Paschen like Behavior in Argon RF Discharge

Abstract

A 13.56 MHz radio frequency inductively coupled discharge system is used in this work to study the relation between Argon gas pressure in the discharge chamber and the threshold breakdown RF power needed to create the discharge. Experimental results
indicated that although the data involve some features related to the traditional Paschen relation used in DC discharges, this relation cannot provide a quantitative description of experimental data. For such reason, a modified formof Paschen relation is suggested. The
modified relation provides good agreement with experimental data. Furthermore, it seems that the Paschen relation will have significant reflections on the behavior of the transit process from capacitive to inductive discharge. This is demonstrated by studying the transit region.

PACS: 52.25-b Plasma Properties-51.50+V Electrical Properties.

Keywords: RF Plasma; Breakdown plasma; Paschen; Glow Discharge.