General Characteristics of the Maintenance Electric Fields in Planar Radio Frequency Discharges

Abstract

Fundamental characteristic features of the maintenance electric fields for radio frequency (RF) discharges between a pair of planar electrodes were disclosed theoretically by solving a quasistatic linear Laplace equation in a stationary state. The phase and amplitude properties for the fields in plasma and dielectrics (or sheaths in equivalence) were represented in several universal forms. The plasma was assumed to be uniformly produced between electrodes. The present theory is based on an unique interpretation for the RF plasma production that arises from a geometrical resonance of electron plasma oscillation. The theory may be applicable for wide ranges of gas pressures and RF frequencies.