Effects of amplitude modulation of rf discharge voltage on growth of nano-particles in reactive plasmas

We have first conformed the effects of amplitude modulation (AM) of rf discharge voltage on growth of nano-particles in plasma CVD. This method of AM was used to control fluctuation level of plasma parameters, and allow us to investigate the causal relationship between the nano-particle property and plasma fluctuations. We found the ratio of power of single mode to that harmonic mode is negligible small until fluctuation level of amplitude modulated rf peak-to-peak voltage becomes roughly 20 %. The growth of nano-particles during rf discharge decreased as induced plasma fluctuation level increases.