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Ion transport in glow discharges with dust

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 February 2001

A. P. SUN
Affiliation:
Southwestern Institute of Physics, PO Box 432, Chengdu 610041, PR China ([email protected])
M. GENG
Affiliation:
Southwestern Institute of Physics, PO Box 432, Chengdu 610041, PR China ([email protected])
X. M. QIU
Affiliation:
Southwestern Institute of Physics, PO Box 432, Chengdu 610041, PR China ([email protected])

Extract

A Monte Carlo method is used to simulate ion transport in a radiofrequency parallel-plate glow discharge with a negative-voltage pulse connected to the electrode. The dust generated during the discharge and a self-consistent electric field are taken into account. Charge exchange and elastic collisions between ions and neutral atoms and the collection and Coulomb scattering of ions on the dust particles are examined during the motion of ions in the sheath. It is found that self-consistent field, neutral gas pressure, and dust charge, dust concentration and dust size influence, to varying degrees, the energy distribution and density of ions arriving at the target, and in particular, the dust charge and concentration have significant influences. As they increase, the number of ions arriving at the target is greatly reduced. In summary, although the dust content is very low (of order 10−3) in most plasma processing devices, its influence cannot be neglected, because of the large dust size and charge (in particular, the former). Therefore, in order to produce good results with ion implantation, coating, stripping, and etching, it is necessary to reduce the dust content and control the size of dust particles.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
© 2000 Cambridge University Press

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