COMPUTER-AIDED-DESIGN OF MICROWAVE PLASMA SOURCES - POTENTIAL AND APPLICATIONS

The electrical behavior of SLAN (slot antenna) plasma sources is analy sed with the Maxwell equations finite integration algorithm (MAFIA). T he influence of the source components and their dimensions on resonanc e frequencies and power coupling of all eigenmodes up to 3 GHz is stud ied. Resonances close to the excitation frequency may adversely influe nce the power absorption in the source. By shifting the frequencies of these resonances the source performance call be optimized. As an exam ple the azimuthal plasma homogeneity of a SLAN microwave plasma source is improved by a proper design. To be more realistic the plasma has b een introduced into the simulation as a lossy dielectric. Although thi s is a crude approach, the results yield useful insights into the loca l power absorption.