The effect of step ionizations on the high energy electron temperature in inductively coupled plasma

Abstract

In this thesis, the effect of the step ionizations on the high and low energy electron temperature plasma is investigated in an argon inductively coupled. A single Langmuir probe and an optical emission spectroscopy are used to measure EEPFs and metastable densities with an electron density. In addition, the step ionization contributions are calculated, and the high and low energy electron temperature are also obtained from the EEPFs after subtracting the ion current. It is observed the trend of the step ionization contribution and the electron temperatures (Thigh, Tlow) are in good agreement with the electron density. This relation between the step ionization contribution and the electron temperature can be explained by the particle balance equation. These results show that the electron temperature is closely related to the step ionization. Especially the high energy electron temperature is closely related to the single step ionization.