On the influence of electrode surfaces on the plasma chemistry of a capacitive chlorine discharge

Abstract

One-dimensional particle-in-cell/Monte Carlo collisional simulations are performed on capacitive chlorine discharges with 2.54 cm gap rf driven by a sinusoidal with voltage amplitude of 222 V at driving frequency of 13.56 MHz. The properties of the discharge, the reaction rates for creation and loss of a few key species, the electron energy probability function, and the primary electron power absorption processes are explored as the gas pressure and the inclusion of secondary electron emission processes in the discharge model is varied. Five cases are investigated, including and neglecting electron, ion, and fast neutrals induced secondary electron emission. The negative ion Cl− is almost entirely created by dissociative attachment and lost through ion-ion recombination, and therefore the capacitive chlorine discharge is recombination dominated.