Fluid simulation of inductively coupled Ar/O₂ plasmas: Comparisons with experiment

In this work, a two-dimensional fluid model has been employed to study the characteristics of Ar/O₂ radio frequency (RF) inductively coupled plasma discharges. The emphasis of this work has been put on the influence of the external parameters (i.e., the RF power, the pressure, and the Ar/O₂ gas ratio) on the plasma properties. The numerical results show that the RF power has a significant influence on the amplitude of the plasma density rather than on the spatial distribution. However, the pressure and the Ar/O₂ gas ratio affect not only the amplitude of the plasma density, but also the spatial uniformity. Finally, the comparison between the simulation results and the experimental data has been made at different gas pressures and oxygen contents, and a good agreement has been achieved.