Transition in radio frequency gas breakdown with a transverse magnetic field

Dong Yang, Huihui Wang, Bocong Zheng, Zhigang Liu, Yangyang Fu*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

2 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

This paper presents the quantification of gas breakdown voltages in low-pressure argon capacitive radio frequency (rf) discharges in the presence of an external transverse magnetic field via fully kinetic particle-in-cell/Monte Carlo collision simulations. It is found that as the magnetic field increases, the left branch of the breakdown curve, a double-valued rf breakdown voltage regime, shifts toward a lower-pressure region. A split of the breakdown curve into lower and upper branches occurs when the external magnetic field rises to a critical value. The observed abrupt transition of rf breakdown behaviors can be understood based on the electron kinetics behaviors, with the consideration of the enhanced ionization and electron confinement induced by E × B drift motions. An improved analytical model is developed, which can estimate the critical magnetic field required for the occurrence of the transition.

Original languageEnglish
Article number10LT01
JournalPlasma Sources Science and Technology
Volume32
Issue number10
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Oct 2023

Keywords

  • Paschen curve
  • breakdown voltage
  • diffusion loss
  • electrical breakdown
  • electron impact ionization
  • particle-in-cell simulation
  • radio frequency discharge

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