Energy influx from an rf plasma to a substrate during plasma processing

The energy influx delivered by an rf plasma to a metal substrate has been s tudied by a calorimetric method with a thermal probe. By changing the subst rate voltage, the influence of the kinetic energy of the charge carriers to the thermal power could be determined. The measured energy influx for an a rgon plasma can be explained mainly by ions, electrons, and their recombina tion. In the case of an oxygen plasma, where the energy influx is under com parable conditions about 50% higher, also other transfer mechanisms such as surface-aided atom association and relaxation of rovibrational states have to be taken into consideration. (C) 2000 American Institute of Physics. [S 0021-8979(00)05608-5].