Plasma series resonance in capacitive discharges with transverse magnetic field

Capacitive plasma discharges are a key technology in modern industries. Adding magnetic fields to such discharges leads to enhanced characteristics such as higher densities and increased ion flux. Similar to unmagnetized discharges, a lumped element description can be used to understand the basic behavior. In capacitively coupled discharges without magnetic field the plasma series resonance can be understood by the interaction of the sheaths, modeled by nonlinear capacitors and the bulk electrons’ inertia, modeled by an inductance [1]. Deriving the lumped elements from the cold-plasma model for a magnetized discharge, where the magnetic field is transverse to the electric field, leads to a more complex scheme. By analyzing a typical case with low pressure of 0.5 Pa, a typical applied frequency of 13.56 MHz and a magnetic flux density of 5 mT, it can be seen that the behavior of the discharge totally changes compared to the unmagnetized case. The plasma series resonance vanishes, which can be explained by a change of the bulk response from an inductive to a capacitive one. This can also be seen in 1d3v PIC/MCC-simulations.

[1] T. Mussenbrock et al., PSST 16, 377385 (2007)