Investigation of plasma distribution in electron-focused electric field enhanced glow discharge plasma immersion ion implantation

In enhanced glow discharge plasma immersion ion implantation (EGDPIII) that involves a small pointed anode and large area tabular cathode, the high negative substrate bias not only acts as the plasma producer but also supplies the implantation voltage. Consequently, an electric field is created to focus the electrons and the electron-focusing field enhances the glow discharge process. In this work, the plasma distribution is measured using a Langmuir probe to obtain the plasma density. Numerical interpolation is performed to obtain the plasma density distribution throughout the entire discharge region. The effects of different distances between the anode and cathode on the glow discharge characteristics and the influence of the plasma electron density are also evaluated. Our results experimentally verify the electron-focusing phenomenon and suggest optimal processing windows for enhanced ionization rates and efficiency in EGDPIII. (C) 2008 American Institute of Physics.