Customized ion flux-energy distribution functions in capacitively coupled plasmas by voltage waveform tailoring

摘要

We propose a method to generate a single peak at a distinct energy in the ionflux-energy distribution function (IDF) at the electrode surfaces incapacitively coupled plasmas. The technique is based on the tailoring of thedriving voltage waveform, i.e. adjusting the phases and amplitudes of theapplied harmonics, to optimize the accumulation of ions created by chargeexchange collisions and their subsequent acceleration by the sheath electricfield. The position of the peak (i.e. the ion energy) and the flux of the ionswithin the peak of the IDF can be controlled in a wide domain by tuning theparameters of the applied RF voltage waveform, allowing optimization of variousapplications where surface reactions are induced at particular ion energies.