Langmuir probe measurement and theoretical studies on inductively coupled plasma in Ar-N 2 discharge

In this article we use the Langmuir probe and kinetic model to study the electron energy distribution function (EEDF), the electron temperature, and the electronic density in the radio-frequency inductively coupled plasma of Ar-N 2 discharge. It has been found that, with the increase of the N 2 flow, the EEDF varies from the bi-temperature distribution to the tri-temperature distribution; the electron temperature drops monotonically at low pressures ( p p >1.3 Pa). In addition, due to the recombination of electrons and nitrogen molecular ions, the electron density drops substantially at high pressures when a small amount of N 2 is added to the gas mixture. Although the theoretically obtained electron temperature is high than the experimentally measured one, the theoretical model presents good predictions of the influences of N 2 ratio in Ar-N 2 mixture on the electron temperature and EEDF.