Double layer formation in the expanding region of an inductively coupled electronegative plasma

Double-layers (DLs) were observed in the expanding region of an inductively coupled plasma with Ar–SF6 gas mixtures. No DL was observed in pure argon or SF6 fractions below a few percent. They exist over a wide range of power and pressure although they are only stable for a small window of electronegativity (typically between 8% and 13% of SF6 at 1 mTorr), becoming unstable at higher electronegativity. They seem to be formed at the boundary between the source tube and the diffusion chamber and act as an internal boundary [the amplitude being roughly 1.5(kTe∕e)] between a high electron density, high electron temperature, low electronegativity plasma upstream (in the source), and a low electron density, low electron temperature, high electronegativity plasma downstream.