Study of transport process and discharge structure of inductively coupled electronegative plasmas via fluid model and analytic theory collaboration

TL;DR

This paper investigates the structure and discharge processes of inductively coupled electronegative plasmas using fluid models and analytic theory, revealing pressure-dependent profiles and the role of self-coagulation in plasma behavior.

Contribution

It introduces a combined fluid simulation and analytic approach to understand plasma stratification, profiles, and self-coagulation effects across different pressures.

Findings

Discharge stratification by double layer modeled as dipole.

Pressure-dependent transition of plasma profiles from parabolic to flat-topped.

Self-coagulation influences electron density and plasma neutrality.

Abstract

The discharge structure of inductively coupled plasma is studied via fluid simulation and analytic theory collaboration. At low pressure, the discharge is stratified by the double layer, which is modelled as dipole moment. The parabolic profile is formed in the discharge core when recombination loss is negligible and both the electron and anions are the Boltzmann balanced. At increasing the pressure, the main characteristics, i.e., parabolic, elliptic and flat-topped profile, are experienced, predicted by the simulation and analytics. Self-coagulation is accompanied at all considered pressures. It is more a chemistry process and provides new means of constricting plasma. At its influence, electron density deviates from the Boltzmann equilibrium. For satisfying the neutrality of bulk plasma, the ambi-polar self-coagulation mechanism is suggested. At high pressure, the self-coagulation-to-coil scheme causes the mass point behavior in the plasma. Minor cations re-self-coagulate at certain conditions and the correlation with the celestial bodies formation is hypothesized.