On the role of metastables in capacitively coupled oxygen discharges

J. T. Gudmundsson, M. A. Lieberman

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

21 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

The roles of the metastable atoms O(1D) and molecules O2(a1Δg) in a capacitively coupled rf driven oxygen discharge at 50 mTorr are explored using the one-dimensional object-oriented PIC/MCC code oopd1, which has one spatial dimension and three velocity components. The oxygen discharge model considers the species O2(X3g-), O2(a1Δg), O(3P), O(1D), O2+, O+, O-, and electrons. The particle density profiles, the electron heating rate profile, the electron energy probability function and the ion energy distribution function at the grounded electrode are explored, including and/or excluding the metastables and secondary electron emission. We find that detachment by the metastable molecule O2(a1Δg) has a significant influence on the discharge properties such as the electronegativity, the effective electron temperature and the electron heating processes.

Original languageEnglish
Article number035016
JournalPlasma Sources Science and Technology
Volume24
Issue number3
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 May 2015

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2015 IOP Publishing Ltd.

Other keywords

  • Capacitively coupled discharge
  • Electron heating
  • Metastables
  • Oxygen
  • Particle-in-cell/Monte Carlo

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