Low-pressure low-frequency inductive discharge with ferrite cores for large-scale plasma processing

Electrophysical characteristics of a low–frequency (100 kHz) low–pressure (10–100 Pa) argon inductive discharge with ferrite cores have been investigated for discharge currents of 1–50 A, discharge chamber diameter of 230 mm. The dependencies of electric field strength on the argon pressure and discharge current were measured. Radial profiles of electron density and temperature were determined with double electric probes. Experimental results were compared with numerical results obtained by a self-consistent kinetic model of the low-frequency ICP, based on the simultaneous solution of a non-local Boltzmann equation for electron energy distribution function and balance equations for the metastable argon atoms density and gas temperature. Comparison of numerical and experimental results is presented. (paper)