Measurement and Optimization of an ECR Plasma Source

Electron cyclotron resonance (ECR) is a very common technique for various kinds of applications. Among others, it is widely used in the field of semiconductor or material industry, electron microscopy or plasmatic machining. This paper deals with an ECR source of plasma, which is used for ions generation. The plasma source uses the cyclotron resonance principle for Xenon gas ionization and efficient plasma generation. This technology is advantageous for selected application for several reasons, especially for a wide range of optimization options of the drive system. The used measurement methods are based on well-known information about the ion source and standard working conditions. Within this paper, we optimize the conditions to find out the best set of input parameters. The output of this experiment is a multidimensional map of the working conditions, essential to evaluate the dependences of variable working pressure, excitation energies and frequencies and to understand the consequences, arising from this complex measurement. The test environment is based on an electron microscope system, which is used for measuring and controlling all working conditions. Above that, an external high-frequency power source was used for plasma excitation. Such setup enables to set and tune all the parameters, collect measured information, and interpret them easily.