Two-dimensional kinetic modeling of a weakly magnetized Capacitively Coupled Plasma Discharge in cylindrical geometry.

Capacitively Coupled Plasma (CCP) discharges are commonly used in the semiconductor industry to etch and deposit materials for microelectronics components. The processing rates and uniformity of the wafer depend on key parameters such as the ion flux, ion energy distribution function (IEDF), and plasma homogeneity. The non-Maxwellian nature of the IEDF requires a kinetic treatment, which can be achieved with Particle-In-Cell (PIC) simulations.

In this work, we develop a procedure to control the plasma uniformity and its dynamics using a weak magnetic field with a 2D cylindrical axisymmetric model. The present investigation takes leverage of PIC modeling and uses the explicit EDIPIC-2D code [1]. A detailed analysis of the sheath structure, the ion flux, and IEDF at the wafer will be performed and compared to prior 1D models [2].



¹ https://github.com/PrincetonUniversity/EDIPIC-2D

² S. Patil, S. Sharma, S. Sengupta, A. Sen, and I. Kaganovich, “Electron bounce-cyclotron resonance in capacitive discharges at low magnetic fields,” Phys. Rev. Research 4(1), 013059 (2022).