Striation Phenomena in a Radio Frequency Capacitively Coupled Plasma for Semiconductor Process

This study provides the conditions and characteristics of a radial striation in a capacitively coupled plasmas, which is caused by self-organized pattern formation. With the variation of the gas pressure and the RF applied voltage, we found that the striation occurs in the parameter space near the breakdown boundary of the glow discharge. By observing the time-averaged plasma parameters, it was found that the striation is triggered by the local non-uniformity of electron heating. The radial electron flux distribution shows a strong shear with the evolving striations. Copyright © 2022 The Korean Institute of Electrical Engineers.