Dust particle growth in rf silane plasmas using two-dimensional multi-pass laser light scattering

Abstract

We measured a spatio-temporal distribution of particle size and a spatial growth rate in a capacitively coupled silane plasma using in situ multi-pass laser light scattering. The two-dimensional measurement was accomplished using a low power He-Ne laser and a set of spherical mirrors across the plasma that enables us to span multiple beam paths over the plasma region in the vertical direction from the electrode sheath to the bulk plasma. In temporal, the measurement result shows two particle growth periods in which the fast particle growth (nucleation) is followed by the slow particle growth (coagulation). In spatial, the fastest particle growth occurred at the highest vertical position that corresponds to the furthest position from the sheath. The particle coagulation modeling indicates that it is consistent with the largest proto particle creation rate in the plasma bulk.