Study of the effects of a transverse magnetic field on radio frequency argon discharges by two-dimensional particle-in-cell-Monte-Carlo collision simulations

The influence of an applied magnetic field on plasma-related devices has a wide range of applications. Its effects on a plasma have been studied for years; however, there are still many issues that are not understood well. This paper reports a detailed kinetic study with the two-dimension-in-space and three-dimension-in-velocity particle-in-cell plus Monte Carlo collision method on the role of E×B drift in a capacitive argon discharge, similar to the experiment of You et al. [Thin Solid Films 519, 6981 (2011)]. The parameters chosen in the present study for the external magnetic field are in a range common to many applications. Two basic configurations of the magnetic field are analyzed in detail: the magnetic field direction parallel to the electrode with or without a gradient. With an extensive parametric study, we give detailed influences of the drift on the collective behaviors of the plasma along a two-dimensional domain, which cannot be represented by a 1 spatial and 3 velocity dimensions model. By analyzing the results of the simulations, the occurring collisionless heating mechanism is explained well.