Effects of magnetic field gradient on capacitively coupled plasma driven by tailored voltage waveforms

This study utilized one-dimensional implicit particle-in-cell/Monte Carlo collision simulations to investigate the impact of different harmonic numbers and magnetic field strengths on capacitive-coupled argon plasma. Under the conditions of a pressure of 50 mTorr and a voltage of 100 V, simulations were conducted for magnetic field strengths of 0 and 100 G, magnetic field gradients of 10–40, 10–60, 10–80, 10–100, and 100–10 G, as well as discharge scenarios with harmonic numbers ranging from 1 to 5. Through in-depth analysis of the results, it was observed that the combined effect of positive magnetic field gradients and harmonic numbers can significantly enhance plasma density and self-bias properties to a greater extent. As the magnetic field gradient increases, the combined effect also increases, while an increase in harmonic numbers weakens the combined effect. Furthermore, this combined effect expands the range of control over ion bombardment energy. This provides a new research direction for improving control over ion energy and ion flux in capacitive-coupled plasmas.