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A self-consistent global model of neutral gas depletion in pulsed helicon

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Article in Physics of Plasmas · January 1999

DOI: 10.1063/1.873289

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PHYSICS OF PLASMAS VOLUME 6, NUMBER 1 JANUARY 1999

A self-consistent global model of neutral gas depletion

in pulsed helicon plasmas
Suwon Cho
Department of Physics, Kyonggi University, Suwon, Kyonggi-Do 442-760, Korea
~Received 1 June 1998; accepted 25 September 1998!
The time-dependent global model is employed to examine the temporal behavior of the electron
density and temperature in helicon plasmas. The power absorption calculated from the solutions of
the Maxwell equations is used in solving the power balance equation and a balance model for the
neutral gas is considered to find its density self-consistently. The numerical results successfully
explain neutral gas depletion and the occurrence of two distinct modes of pulsed helicon discharge,
which have been observed experimentally. © 1999 American Institute of Physics.
@S1070-664X~99!01701-2#

I. INTRODUCTION
Plasma production by helicon wave excitation has been
of great interest because high density plasmas can be attained
with a modest rf input power. The reason for the high ion-
ization efficiency has not been clearly known yet, but recent
theoretical and experimental studies have improved our un-
derstanding of helicon plasmas: The importance of the
Trivelpiece–Gould mode has been recognized1–4 and the de-
pendence of the plasma density on the external parameters,
such as the magnetic field and the rf power, has been ex-
plained in terms of the power balance.4–6
One of the characteristics of helicon plasmas that has not
been extensively studied is the ion pumping effect. This re-
fers to the phenomena that an ionized atom reaches the wall
at a much faster speed than the thermal speed of a neutral,
and recombines with electrons forming a neutral, which is
pumped out or slowly diffuses back at its thermal speed.7
This effect expedites neutral gas depletion, and, conse-
quently, the neutral pressure is lower in a plasma with a
higher ionization ratio.7–9 It has also been reported that there
exist two kinds of the discharge mode, which have different
temporal behaviors of the ion current density depending on
the value of the magnetic field in pulsed helicon plasma.9
An attempt to model the ion pumping effect was made
recently by Yoon et al.10 Assuming the variation of the
power absorption efficiency and the neutral density in accor-
dance with an experimental result, they solved a set of bal-
ance equations for the electron density and temperature to
obtain the time evolution of the ion current density in pulsed
discharge. But, the electron density and temperature affect
the neutral density, and vice versa. The power absorption,
which depends on the electron density,2,4,11 takes part in de-
termining the electron temperature and thereupon affects the
electron and neutral densities. As these parameters are de-
pendent on each other, it would be appropriate to treat them
in a self-consistent manner without relying on experimental
results.
In this work, the assumptions on the power absorption
and the neutral gas density are removed by incorporating the
power absorption calculation based on the solutions of the
Maxwell equations and a balance model for the neutral gas
density. The absorbed rf power by plasma is found as a func-
tion of the electron density in view of the fact that the power
absorption is effectively independent of other parameters,
such as the neutral density and the electron temperature.
Then the balance equations are solved to obtain the time
evolution of the electron and neutral densities and the elec-
tron temperature using the power absorption calculated. The
results are used to explain neutral gas depletion and to evalu-
ate the effect of the magnetic field, the gas flow rate, and the
pressure on the discharge parameters.
II. BALANCE EQUATIONS
Assuming that the plasma is quasineutral, as well as sin-
gly ionized, and that diffusion is ambipolar, the electron den-
sity n e can be described by10
dn e n eu B
5K ionn g n e 2 2 a n 2e , ~1!
dt d eff
where K ion , n g , u B , and a are the ionization rate coefficient,
the neutral gas density, the Bohm speed, and the recombina-
tion coefficient, respectively. The radiative recombination
coefficient is taken as12
a 510214 S DF
E ion
kT e
1
0.41 ln
2
E ion
kT e S D S DG
10.4
E ion
kT e
cm3/s,
~2!
where k is the Boltzmann constant and E ion is the ionization
energy. The second term on the right-hand side of Eq. ~1!
represents the electron loss rate at the sheath, which is equal
to the ion loss rate with the assumption of ambipolar diffu-
sion, and is expressed in terms of the effective size d eff
5L/2h L with h L 50.86(31L/2l i ) 21/2, where L is the length
of the cylindrical plasma column and l i is the mean free path
of the ions.13 Here, h L means the ratio of the electron density
at the axial sheath edge to that of the bulk plasma region, and
the radial loss is neglected considering that the magnetic
field is applied in the axial direction.14

1070-664X/99/6(1)/359/6/$15.00 359 © 1999 American Institute of Physics

360 Phys. Plasmas, Vol. 6, No. 1, January 1999
The electron temperature T e can be obtained from the
power balance equation10,14
S D
d 3 P abs P coll n e u B 5
n kT 5 2 2 eV s 1 kT e
dt 2 e e V V d eff 2 trals depends on the configuration of a particular device, as
3 well as the absorption and desorption properties of the cham-
2 a kT e n 2e ,
2
where V is the plasma volume, V s is the the sheath voltage,
P abs is the power absorption by plasma, and P coll is the col-
lisional power loss given as15
P coll
V
5n e n g (j K j E j .
The K j ’s are the rate coefficients and the sum is over several
collisional loss processes such as ionization, excitation, and
elastic collisions. The rate coefficients can be fitted accord-
ing to
K j 5 s j v e e 2E j /T e ,
where v e is the electron mean thermal speed, and the s j ’s
and E j ’s are constants.15
In a steady state without plasma, the neutral gas is fed
from the source and lost via pumping at constant rates. In the
present model, its loss rate is assumed to be proportional to
the density so that the neutral density n g is governed by
dn g
5s2 b n g ,
dt
when the external power for ionization is not turned on. The
coefficient b is related to the feeding rate s by
s5 b n 0g ,
where n 0g
is the equilibrium gas density in the absence of
plasma, and then n g may be written as
n g ~ t ! 5n 0g 1 @ n g ~ t 0 ! 2n 0g # e 2 b ~ t2t 0 ! .
If the perturbed neutral gas density reaches its equilibrium
value in a few milliseconds,7 b may be guessed to be of the
order of 102 s21 or it can be estimated from the volume flow
rate of the gas as follows: If the flow rate is 50 sccm, the
neutrals are fed into the chamber at the rate S.231019
neutrals/s at room temperature. Since b 5S/n 0g V where V is
the volume of the chamber, it is approximately 100 at 1
mTorr for the chamber with 5 cm in radius and 80 cm in
length.
In the presence of plasma, there are ionization and vol-
ume recombinations that control the neutral density. In addi-
tion, there is diffusion of the neutralized particles to the
plasma from the wall where recombination occurs, since the
speed of the recombined neutrals near the wall is slower than
the speed of the ions leaving the plasma, so that there is a
gradient in the neutral density at the plasma boundary. But,
this effect cannot be treated properly with the global model.
One of the possible approaches is to consider the fraction of
the neutralized particles which diffuse back into the plasma.
If there is a pump line near a wall, the steep density gradient
near the line would cause most of the neutrals around it to be
Suwon Cho
evacuated; but many neutrals are recycled, if they have been
recombined at the wall, which does not have a pump line at
S D
its vicinity, or there is a large processing chamber attached to
a source chamber. Namely, the fraction of the recycling neu-
~3! ber wall. Denoting this fraction by g, one obtains the balance
equation for the neutrals
dn g n eu B
5 b ~ n 0g 2n g ! 1 a n 2e 2K ionn e n g 1 g , ~9!
dt d eff
which completes the set of balance equations. Equations ~1!,
~4! ~3!, and ~9! can be solved to find the time evolution of the
densities and the temperature, provided that the dependence
of the power absorption on either time or other parameters
are known.
The power absorbed by plasma can be expressed in the
form16
~5! Rp
P abs5 P [ h P rf , ~10!
R p 1R c rf
where R p is the plasma radiation resistance and R c is the
equivalent conduction resistance of the device, and P rf is the
rf power delivered from the power supply. In this work, the
plasma resistance is calculated analytically, assuming that
the plasma is uniform.2 Inhomogeneity in the plasma density
may modify the structure of the electromagnetic fields and
the values of the plasma density found from power balance
~6!
consideration,11 but the uniform plasma model retains the
most important characteristics of helicon plasmas, such as
the density jumps and the linear relationship between the
density and the magnetic field.4–6 In addition, the collision
~7! frequency is taken to be constant, since collisions of the elec-
trons with the neutrals decrease but collisions between the
charged particles increase as the ionization process contin-
ues. It is also noted that the plasma resistance does not vary
~8! significantly with the collision frequency in the typical pres-
sure range of helicon plasmas, as shown in Fig. 1~a!. Landau
damping may be neglected in calculating the plasma resis-
tance R p . These considerations eliminate the necessity of
solving simultaneously the Maxwell equations and the bal-
ance equations which are coupled through P abs . In other
words, the plasma resistance can be calculated as a function
of the electron density before the balance equations are
solved with respect to time, and then it can be used without
significant errors to estimate the power absorbed by plasma
at electron densities to be obtained from the balance equa-
tions.
III. RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS
To illustrate the results of the current model, numerical
examples are taken with the following parameters unless oth-
erwise specified: the chamber length L580 cm, the plasma
radius r p 55 cm, the antenna location r a 56 cm, the conduc-
tor boundary radius r b 510 cm, the rf frequency v /2p
513.56 MHz, the magnetic field B 0 5200 or 700 G, the gas
pressure p51 mTorr, the collision frequency n 50.1v , the
loss rate coefficient b 5110 s21, and the conduction resis-
Phys. Plasmas, Vol. 6, No. 1, January 1999
FIG. 1. The plasma resistance is given as a function of the electron density
~a! for the different values of the collision frequency at B 0 5700 G and ~b!
for different values of the magnetic field when n / v 50.1.
tance R c 51 V. The Nagoya type III antenna is used and
supposed to be at the center of the chamber, and the conduct-
ing plates are assumed to be located at the ends of the cham-
ber as in the previous works.2,11 It is also assumed that the
constant rf power of 300 W is turned on during 60 ms.
The plasma resistance R p is presented in Fig. 1~b! as a
function of the electron density for the cases of B 0 5200 and
700 G. Equations ~1!, ~3!, and ~9! are numerically integrated
to find the electron density and temperature and the neutral
density as functions of time. As R p depends on the electron
density, the power absorption efficiency h is calculated at
every time step using the results given in Fig. 1~b!. The
initial values for n e and T e do not affect the results if they
FIG. 2. The time evolution of ~a! the electron density, ~b! the electron
temperature, ~c! the neutral gas density, and ~d! the power absorption effi-
ciency at B 0 5200 G.
Suwon Cho 361
FIG. 3. The time evolution of ~a! the electron density, ~b! the electron
temperature, ~c! the neutral gas density, and ~d! the power absorption effi-
ciency at B 0 5700 G.
are taken to be reasonably small, and the initial value of n g ,
i.e., n 0g is estimated from the ideal gas law. As shown in Figs.
2 and 3, the different values of the power absorption under
what is otherwise the same condition, result in two kinds of
modes having different temporal behaviors of the discharge
parameters. In the case of 200 G, the absorption efficiency is
relatively low, so that ionization and depletion of the neutrals
occur slowly enough to be compensated by the inflow of the
gas. But, more absorption of the rf power can cause faster
depletion, making the electron density decrease as in the case
of 700 G, since the ionization rate decreases with the neutral
density. It may be worthwhile to note that the temporal be-
havior of the electron density and temperature is more
strongly related to that of the neutral density rather than the
power absorption.
If the electron density decreases with a similar amount
of the power absorption, the temperature should be in-
creased, as indicated by Fig. 3~b!. The variation of the elec-
tron density and temperature is reflected on the behavior of
the ion saturation current, which has actually been measured
in experiments.7,9 The ion current density calculated from
J ion5h L en e u B , ~11!
is presented for the cases of B 0 5200 and 700 G in Fig. 4.
Since J ion}n e AT e , the variation of J ion is more sensitive to
FIG. 4. The time evolution of the ion current density at B 0 5200 G ~the
dotted line! and B 0 5700 G ~the solid line!.
362 Phys. Plasmas, Vol. 6, No. 1, January 1999
FIG. 5. The time evolution of ~a! the electron density, ~b! the electron
temperature, and ~c! the neutral gas density is presented to show the effect
of the gas feeding rate, which is proportional to the pressure at the fixed
value of b 5110 s21. The magnetic field is 700 G.
that of n e than T e . Thus, it has a peak during the early period
of the rf pulse and then has a following plateau in the case of
700 G.
The steady state values of the electron temperature and
density can be estimated from
E ion
kT e 5 , ~12!
ln~ 4 s ionn g d eff! 14.7
P abs
n e5 , ~13!
u B A effE T
where s ion and E T are the cross section for ionization and the
total energy lost per electron–ion pair created in the system,
respectively, and A eff52p r2phL .14 These are equivalent to
Eqs. ~1! and ~3! without the recombination term when the
time derivatives are set to be zero. For the case of 200 G,
Eqs. ~12! and ~13! yield T e .2.4 eV and n e .2.031012
cm23 which roughly agrees with the results given in Fig. 2.
Here, the result in Fig. 2~d! is used to estimate P abs.153 W.
However, one finds T e .2.4 eV and n e .2.931012 cm23,
using P abs.225 W for the case of 700 G, which are notice-
ably different from the results in Fig. 3. This discrepancy is
due to the substantial amount of neutral depletion, but can be
corrected to get T e .4.7 eV and n e .1.931012 cm23 if the
factor of 0.036 from the result given in Fig. 3~c! is taken into
account for n g which varies from the initial value of 3.3
31013 to 1.231012 cm23. It is noted again that neutral
Suwon Cho
FIG. 6. The time evolution of ~a! the electron density, ~b! the electron
temperature, and ~c! the neutral gas density is presented to show the effect
of the pressure at the same gas feeding rate. The dashed, dotted, and solid
lines represent the cases of p50.5 mTorr and b 5220 s21, p51 mTorr, and
b 5110 s21, and p52 mTorr and b 555 s21, respectively. The constant rf
power 300 W is assumed to be turned on during 80 ms and the magnetic
field is 700 G.
depletion causes the electron temperature to rise and the
electron density to fall. As seen from these examples, the
usual time-independent global model may not predict correct
values for highly ionized plasmas if depletion of the neutral
gas is not considered. Setting dn g /dt50 in Eq. ~9! leads to
the steady state value
a n 2e 1 b n 0g 1 g n e u B /d eff
n g5 , ~14!
b 1K ionn e
which should be solved simultaneously with Eqs. ~12! and
~13!. However, the time-independent treatment does not give
an advantage over the time-dependent one, because the gov-
erning equations are nonlinear and should be solved itera-
tively if the effect of neutral gas depletion is included.
For the same amount of the power absorption, the exis-
tence of a peak in n e or J ion depends on whether depletion of
the neutrals is sufficiently compensated by the inflow of the
neutrals. Figure 5 shows the effect of the gas feeding rate,
which is proportional to the initial off-plasma gas pressure p
at the fixed value of b. For p52 mTorr, neutral depletion is
negligible and the neutral pressure remains virtually constant
during the whole period of discharge. On the other hand,
when p50.5 mTorr, the inflow, as well as the initial number
of the neutral before discharge, is so small that the neutrals
Phys. Plasmas, Vol. 6, No. 1, January 1999
FIG. 7. The time evolution of the ion current density when b 555 s21 and
g 50.5. All other parameters are the same as in the case of B 0 5700 G
presented in Fig. 4.
are exhausted quickly and, accordingly, the electron density
is decreased fast. This discharge is liable to disruption, how-
ever, since the final steady state electron density is about
1012 cm23 which is in the unstable range characterized by
] P abs / ] n e ,0 as denoted in Fig. 1.5
For the same gas feeding rate, the initial number of the
neutrals can be different depending on the loss rate coeffi-
cient b as they are related by Eq. ~7!, and the various com-
binations of b and n 0g or p leads to the diverse results of the
final steady state as well as the transient state. Examples of
cases presented in Fig. 6 have the same feeding rate corre-
sponding to p51 mTorr and b 5110 s21, but different val-
ues of the pressure and the loss rate coefficient. When p
50.5 mTorr and b 5220 s21, the steady state is quickly
reached, accompanying rapid depletion of the neutral gas and
the low value of the equilibrium electron density. Compared
to that of the p50.5 mTorr and b 5110 s21 case in Fig. 5,
however, the gas feeding rate is twice, which results in
slower depletion and higher steady state values of the neutral
and electron densities. Finally, when p52 mTorr and b
555 s21, the initial number of neutrals is quite large so that
ionization does not cause fast depletion of the neutrals, but
the inflow of the gas is not sufficient enough to compensate
further loss of the neutrals contrary to the case of p
52 mTorr and b 5110 s21 given in Fig. 5.
In these examples, it is assumed that all of the neutrals
recombined at the wall are pumped out to explain numeri-
cally the basic characteristics of the ion pumping effect using
a model as simple as possible without an extra parameter ~g!
which cannot be determined by the theory itself. When g
Þ0, similar results are still obtained with smaller values of
the feeding rate b n 0g , as the neutrals are now supplied from
two main sources, the external feeding and the wall recom-
bination. If there is a pump line attached to an end wall of a
simple device consisting of a straight cylinder, g may be
roughly estimated to be half by assuming that most of the
neutrals near that wall are pumped out, while all particles
neutralized at the other wall diffuse into the plasma. Figure 7
shows that the result for the case of b 555 s21 and g 50.5 is
similar to that of b 5110 s21 and g 50 presented in Fig. 4,
although the time for the final equilibrium to be reached is
different according to the value of b.
The occurrence of the high depletion mode ~the helicon
mode in Ref. 9!, which is distinguished from the low mode
Suwon Cho 363
by the existence of an initial peak and a following plateau in
the time variation of the electron density or the ion current
density, is basically subject to the gas flow rate and the
power absorption, as expected. The magnetic field affects the
power absorption efficiency, which is modeled in this work.
However, it plays another role in controlling the radial loss
of charged particles and power, and this implies that the
differences between the low and high field discharge may be
larger due to the confinement effect in actual experiments
than in the results of the present model.
IV. SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS
The global balance equations combined with a power
absorption calculation are used to investigate the time evo-
lution of the electron density and temperature in helicon
plasmas. The power absorption is obtained from the solu-
tions of the Maxwell equations for uniform plasmas and the
neutral gas density is determined from its balance equation.
Calculation is performed in a self-consistent manner, as the
electron density and temperature, the neutral density, and the
power absorption depend on each other.
The numerical results explain the effect of neutral gas
depletion and the existence of distinct modes for the tempo-
ral behavior of the electron density or the ion saturation cur-
rent in pulsed helicon discharge, which have been experi-
mentally observed. The condition of the different modes is
identified; the behavior of the discharge parameters primarily
depends on the power absorption and the gas flow rate, but
the pressure controls the electron density and temperature of
the final steady state as well as the transient state even with
the same flow rate. It is also shown that the usual balance
formula for estimating the electron density and temperature
may not yield proper values for highly ionized plasmas
where neutral gas depletion is significant.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The author would like to thank Dr. Jong Gu Kwak for
reading and comments on the manuscript.
This work has been supported by the Korea Basic Sci-
ence Institute and, in part, by the Academic Research Fund
of the Ministry of Education, Republic of Korea ~BSRI-97-
2458!.
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