Study on discharge characteristics of magnetized capacitively coupled Ar/CH4 plasma

The magnetic effects have to be taken into account when the radio frequency(RF) is high in capacitively coupled plasma (CCP) discharges. In this study, the inhomogeneous magnetic field was introduced to study the discharge characteristics of capacitively coupled Ar/CH4 plasma driven by dual-frequency (20 MHz/100 MHz) at pressure of 30 mTorr using the particle-in-cell Monte Carlo collisions (PIC/MCC) model. The simulation results show that the relatively low inhomogeneous magnetic field can produce symmetry in the electron density and electron temperature. As the magnetic field increase, the electron density, charge density and electron flux initially ascend and subsequently descend, with a peak value being attained at 20 G. The electron temperature exhibits a continuous increase with magnetic field increase. As the increase of magnetic field when the Ar/CH4 ratio is 0.85:0.15, the EEPF is transformed from a double Maxwell distribution to a single Maxwell distribution. The ratio of stochastic heating to ohmic heating was analyzed in order to better understanding of the heating mechanism. The angle and energy distribution of CH4+ and CH3+ ions reaching the boundary of the plate were discussed. The impact of Ar/CH4 ratios on the discharge characteristics of the Ar/CH4 plasma was also explored.