Spatiotemporal characteristics determined by a relaxation continuum model of an inductively coupled plasma

The use of an inductively coupled plasma (ICP) in material processing reactors is of relatively recent origin. A new theoretical model has been developed, based on a relaxation continuum (RCT) model for a collision dominated ICP. The spatiotemporal behavior of the ICP is investigated at 0.3 Torr and 13.56 MHz in Ar under the influence of electric and magnetic fields. It is demonstrated that the plasma is mainly sustained near the wall sheath during the phase when the external magnetic field becomes weak. It is also shown that the dominant mechanism of the power deposition in the ICP is caused by the electron motion under an azimuthal electric field.