Abstract
Profiles of argon plasma sustained with multiple low-inductance antenna (LIA) units in a 300-cm rectangular plasma source have been investigated by a three-dimensional plasma simulation using fluid model. Profile of 4s excited Ar (Ar*) density was investigated as well as plasma density profile. It is found that FWHM of the profile for Ar* density is larger than 2 factors compared to that for density of Ar plasma sustained with two LIA units were installed at the center of top plate. This difference is caused by the different diffusion for particles; i.e., Ar ions diffuse along the electric field gradient while 4s excited Ar particles follow the diffusion of neutral argon. With multiple LIA units, the nonuniformity of the plasma density was 5.5% while that of Ar* density was 4.9% in 230-cm rectangular area, which is equivalent to the substrate size required for next generation flat-panel display processes.
