The electron energy distribution in a low-pressure system combined inductive and capacitive discharge

Summary form only given. High-density inductively coupled plasma sources (ICPs have attracted many interests for several years due to their excellent characteristics in semiconductor manufacturing [1]. Capacitively coupled plasma sources (CCPs) conventionally used in semiconductor manufacturing have advantages for energy control of incident ions and uniformity. In 1990s, a system combined ICPs and CCPs was invented by Applied Materials, Inc. [2]. These kinds of systems have good properties such as high etch rate and selective control of ion-bombardment energy [3-4]. In ICPs, the electron bounce resonance phenomenon which occurs by the anomalous skin effect when the bounce frequency of electrons agrees with the driving frequency was observed [5]. In CCPs, there is stochastic heating caused by oscillating sheath. Combination of these heating processes can cause a resonance of electron energy to change the electron energy distribution function (EEDF). In this study, a combined simulation method is introduced to simulate the ICP-CCP coupled plasma source using a transverse electromagnetic and longitudinal electrostatic particle-in-cell simulation. The change of EEDFs in argon plasma by the bounce electron resonance is observed with the variation of driving frequency of the CCP.