Effect of transport of growing nanoparticles on capacitively coupled rf discharge dynamics

Abstract

We present experimental and numerical studies of the properties of a capacitively coupled 13.56 MHz discharge in a mixture of Ar and C2 H2 with growing nanosize particles. It is found that at the initial stage of the growth, nanoparticles are accumulated near the sheath-plasma boundaries, where the ionization by electrons is maximal. The nanoparticles suppress the ionization due to the absorbing fast electrons and stimulate a quick change of the plasma parameters followed by a transition between different modes of discharge operation. At that moment the peaked distribution of the dust particles transforms into a flat one. © 2008 The American Physical Society.