Plasma injection with helicon sources

An exhaustive set of measurements has been made to find the optimum conditi ons for plasma injection into a processing chamber using small helicon sour ces with low magnetic fields B. It is found that the plasma density decreas es, rather than increases, with B, as in normal helicon discharges. The des ign of the field coil and flange caused this effect; with a different desig n, normal operation was obtained. This experiment provides data on the area coverage of individual helicon discharges for the design of large-area, di stributed plasma sources. (C) 2000 American Vacuum Society.