Electric fields in the sheath formed in a 300 mm, dual frequency capacitive argon discharge

Abstract

In this paper, the spatial structure and temporal evolution of the electric fields in a sheath formed in a dual frequency, 300 mm capacitive argon discharge are measured as functions of relative mixing between a low frequency current and a high frequency current. It is found that the overall structure of the sheath (potential across the sheath and the thickness of the sheath) are dominated by the lower frequency component while (smaller) oscillations in these quantities are dictated by the higher frequency component. Finally, comparisons of the measured spatial and temporal profiles are made for Lieberman's and Robiche et al sheath model and with a particle in a cell calculation.