Collisionless electron heating by radio frequency bias in low gas pressure inductive discharge

We show experimental observations of collisionless electron heating by the combinations of the capacitive radio frequency (RF) bias power and the inductive power in low argon gas pressure RF biased inductively coupled plasma (ICP). With small RF bias powers in the ICP, the electron energy distribution (EED) evolved from bi-Maxwellian distribution to Maxwellian distribution by enhanced plasma bulk heating and the collisionless sheath heating was weak. In the capacitive RF bias dominant regime, however, high energy electrons by the RF bias were heated on the EEDs in the presence of the ICP. The collisionless heating mechanism of the high energy electrons transited from collisionless inductive heating to capacitive coupled collisionless heating by the electron bounce resonance in the RF biased ICP. (C) 2012 American Institute of Physics. [http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.4770312]