Product:Plasma Module
Product:Plasma Module
Model Low-Temperature Nonequilibrium Discharges with the Plasma Module

A square coil is placed on top of a dielectric window and is electrically excited, while a plasma is formed in an argon-filled chamber beneath. The plasma is sustained via electromagnetic induction where power is transferred from the electromagnetic fields to the electrons.
Tailor-Made to Simulate Low-Temperature Plasma Sources and Systems
The Plasma Module is tailor-made to model and simulate low-temperature plasma sources and systems. Engineers and scientists use it to gain insight into the physics of discharges and gauge the performance of existing or potential designs. The module can perform analysis in all space dimensions – 1D, 2D, and 3D. Plasma systems are, by their very nature, complicated systems with a high degree of nonlinearity. Small changes to the electrical input or plasma chemistry can result in significant changes in the discharge characteristics.
Plasmas – A Significant Multiphysics System
Low-temperature plasmas represent the amalgamation of fluid mechanics, reaction engineering, physical kinetics, heat transfer, mass transfer, and electromagnetics – a significant multiphysics system, in other words. The Plasma Module is a specialized tool for modeling non-equilibrium discharges, which occur in a wide range of engineering disciplines. The Plasma Module consists of a suite of physics interfaces that allow arbitrary systems to be modeled. These support the modeling of phenomena such as: direct current discharges, inductively-coupled plasmas, and microwave plasmas. A set of documented example models, with step-by-step descriptions of the modeling process, along with a user’s guide accompany the Plasma Module.
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Inductively Coupled Plasmas
Inductively coupled plasmas (ICP) were first used in the 1960s as thermal plasmas in coating equipment. These devices operated at pressures on the order of 0.1 atm and produced gas temperatures on the order of 10,000 K. In the 1990s, ICP became popular in the film processing industry as a way of fabricating large semiconductor wafers. These plasmas operated in the low-pressure regime, from 0.002-1 torr, and as a consequence, the gas temperature remains close to room temperature. Low-pressure ICPs are attractive because they provide a relatively uniform plasma density over a large volume. The plasma density is also high, around 1018 1/m3, which results in a significant ion flux to the surface of the wafer. Faraday shields are often added to reduce the effect of capacitive coupling between the plasma and the driving coil. The Inductively Coupled Plasma interface automatically sets up the complicated coupling between the electrons and the high frequency electromagnetic fields that are present in this type of plasma. The Inductively Coupled Plasma interface requires both the Plasma Module and the AC/DC Module.
Global Modeling for Initial Analyses of Plasma Processes
To facilitate your modeling of plasma processes, a new Global diffusion model now enables you to perform initial analyses of your processes, before optimizing them with more accurate modeling. Global modeling reduces the degrees of freedom for your models through applying ordinary differential equations to your plasma model. This allows complex reaction chemistries to be tested and verified before running space-dependent models, while the reactor geometry, surface chemistry, and feed streams are all still taken into account.
Direct Current Discharges
A specialized physics interface is available for modeling direct current (DC) discharges, which are sustained through secondary electron emission at the cathode due to ion bombardment. The interface allows for model inputs and contains the underlying equations and conditions for modeling this phenomenon. The electrons ejected from the cathode are accelerated through the cathode fall region into the bulk of the plasma. They may acquire enough energy to ionize the background gas, creating a new electron-ion pair. The electron makes its way to the anode, whereas the ion will migrate to the cathode where it may create a new secondary electron. It is not possible to sustain a DC discharge without including secondary electron emission.
Microwave Plasmas
You can use the Microwave Plasma interface to model wave heated discharges, which are sustained when electrons can gain enough energy from an electromagnetic wave as it penetrates the plasma. The physics of a microwave plasma are quite different depending on whether the TE mode (out-of-plane electric field) or the TM mode (in-plane electric field) is propagating. In neither case is it possible for the electromagnetic wave to penetrate into regions of the plasma where the electron density exceeds the critical electron density (around 7.6x1016 1/m3 for argon at 2.45 GHz). The pressure range for microwave plasmas is very broad. For electron cyclotron resonance (ECR) plasmas, the pressure can be on the order of 1 Pa or less. For non-ECR plasmas, the pressure typically ranges from 100 Pa up to atmospheric pressure. The power can range from a few watts all the way up to several kilowatts. Microwave plasmas are popular thanks to the cheap availability of microwave power. The Microwave Plasma interface requires both the Plasma Module and the RF Module.
Plasma Module
Product Features
- Application-specific physics interfaces
- Plasma interface
- Plasma, Time Periodic interface for capacitively coupled plasmas
- Inductively Coupled Plasma interface
- Microwave Plasma interface
- Corona Discharge interface
- Equilibrium DC Discharge interface
- Equilibrium Inductively Coupled Plasma interface
- Combined Inductive/DC Equilibrium Discharge interface
- Electrical Breakdown Detection interface
- Boltzmann Equation, Two-term Approximation interface
- Other physics interfaces
- Drift diffusion for electron transport
- Heavy species transport for ions and neutrals
- Charge Transport interface
- Electrical circuits to add an external electrical circuit to the plasma model
- Finite element and finite volume discretizations
- Global modeling
- Secondary emission
- Thermionic emission
- Surface reactions and surface species
- Thermal Diffusion of Electrons
- Maxwellian, Druyvesteyn, and Generalized electron energy distribution functions
- Specify reactions using cross section data, Arrhenius expressions, analytic expressions, look-up tables, or Townsend coefficients
- Comprehensive model library and User's Guide
Application Areas
- Chemical Vapor Deposition (CVD)
- Plasma Enhanced Chemical Vapor Deposition (PECVD)
- DC discharges
- Dielectric barrier discharges
- ECR sources
- Etching
- Hazardous gas destruction
- Inductively coupled plasmas (ICP)
- Ion sources
- Materials processing
- Microwave plasmas
- Ozone generation
- Plasma chemistry
- Capacitively coupled plasmas (CCP)
- Plasma display panels
- Plasma processes
- Plasma sources
- Power systems
- Semiconductor fabrication, manufacture, and processing
Supported File Formats
File Format | Extension | Import | Export |
---|---|---|---|
SPICE Circuit Netlist | .cir | Yes | Yes |
Capacitively Coupled Plasma
The NIST Gaseous Electronics Conference has provided a platform for studying Capacitively Coupled Plasma (CCP) reactors, which is what this application is based upon. The operating principle of a capacitively coupled plasma is different when compared to the inductive case. In a CCP reactor, the plasma is sustained by applying a sinusoidal ...
Atmospheric Pressure Corona Discharge
This model simulates a negative corona discharge occurring in between two co-axially fashioned conductors. The negative electric potential is applied to the inner conductor and the exterior conductor is grounded. The modeled discharge is simulated in argon at atmospheric pressure.
Ion Energy Distribution Function
One of the most useful quantites of interest after solving a self-consistent plasma model is the ion energy distribution function (IEDF). The magnitude and shape of the IEDF depends on many of the discharge parameters; pressure, plasma potential, sheath width etc. At very low pressures the plasma sheath is said to be collisionless, meaning that ...
Surface Chemistry Tutorial Using the Plasma Module
Surface chemistry is often an overlooked aspect of reacting flow modeling. This tutorial model shows how surface reactions and species can be added to study processes like chemical vapor deposition (CVD). The tutorial then models silicon growth on a wafer. Initially, the example uses a global model to investigate a broad region of parameters ...
Dielectric Barrier Discharge
This model simulates electrical breakdown in an atmospheric pressure gas. Modeling dielectric barrier discharges in more than one dimension is possible, but the results can be difficult to interpret because of the amount of competing physics in the problem. In this simple model the problem is reduced to 1D by assuming the dielectric gap is much ...
GEC ICP Reactor, Argon Chemistry
The GEC cell was introduced by NIST in order to provide a standardized platform for experimental and modeling studies of discharges in different laboratories. The plasma is sustained via inductive heating. The Reference Cell operates as an inductively-coupled plasma in this model. This model investigates the electrical characteristics of the GEC ...
Thermal Plasma
This model simulates a plasma at medium pressure (2 torr) where the plasma is still not in local thermodynamic equilibrium. At low pressures the two temperatures are decoupled but as the pressure increases the temperatures tend towards the same limit.
In-Plane Microwave Plasma
Wave heated discharges may be very simple, where a plane wave is guided into a reactor using a waveguide, or very complicated as in the case with ECR (electron cyclotron resonance) reactors. In this example, a wave is launched into reactor and an Argon plasma is created. The wave is partially absorbed and reflected by the plasma which sustains ...
Benchmark Model of a Capacitively Coupled Plasma
The underlying physics of a capacitively coupled plasma is rather complicated, even for rather simple geometric configurations and plasma chemistries. This model benchmarks the Capacitively Coupled Plasma physics interface against many different codes.
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