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HIDEN ANALYTICAL LTD

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Plasma Diagnostics
Technical Information Sheet 531







Plasma Diagnostics
Introduction to Langmuir Probes


Introduction
A Langmuir Probe is a powerful plasma diagnostic
tool which capable of determining the fundamental
characteristics of a plasma; namely the ion number
density, electron number density, electron
temperature, electron energy distribution function
(EEDF), floating potential and the plasma potential.
Langmuir probes are routinely used to determine the
plasma parameters in areas as diverse as: low
pressure plasmas for materials processing, the
design of ion sources & new plasma chambers and
edge plasmas in fusion devices. This information is
used to characterise individual systems and
processes and also to design new systems. Appendix
I explains in more detail the significance of each of
the aforementioned parameters.

The measurement itself is accomplished by inserting
a small (usually cylindrical) probe into the plasma and
applying a variable voltage to the probe whilst
measuring the resulting current drawn from the
plasma. The current as a function of probe voltage is
referred to as the I-V characteristic and it is this
characteristic which is analysed to determine the
various plasma parameters. The probe dimensions
are chosen to cause minimum disturbance to the
plasma (typically of the order of 10 mm length and
0.15 mm diameter) and provide a localised
measurement of all the key parameters with very
good spatial resolution.

A simplified schematic of a probe circuit and a typical
I-V characteristic are shown below.



Technical Information Sheet 531 2 Hiden Analytical









Simplified Langmuir Probe Circuit





Typical I-V Characteristic

Langmuir Probe Circuit

The simple probe system consists of
an electrode, an adjustable power
supply and a means to measure the
current. In practice, a computer based
data acquisition and control system is
usually employed to automate the task
of sweeping the bias voltage and
recording the resulting I-V characteristic.
Once acquired the I-V characteristic can
then be analysed according to
established theories and techniques.
I-V Characteristic

The I-V characteristic represents the
current to the probe from the plasma
electrons and ions as a function of
probe bias. To enable analysis, the I-V
characteristic is divided into three
regions - the ion saturation, electron
transition, and electron saturation
regions. This division is useful from the
point of view of understanding the shape
of the I-V characteristic and more
importantly in analysing the data.

- Ion Saturation Region
The ion saturation region occurs for
very negative probe biases over which
the negative probe potential repels all
electrons and attracts only positive ions.

- Electron Saturation Region
In the electron saturation region the
probe collects electrons and repels all
ions.

-Transition Region
The intermediate transition region
contains the electron energy information
since the increasing positive probe
voltage repels electrons of progressively
higher energies and hence samples the
distribution of electron energies. The
transition region is a composite of both
electron and ion current and for proper
analysis ion current and electron current
must be de-coupled. This is usually
accomplished by fitting a function to the
ion current deep in the saturation region
and extrapolating it back through the
transition zone. This ion current
function is then subtracted from the raw
I-V data to produce the electron current
characteristic.


The analysis of the characteristic then
I
V
Plasma
Probe Electrode

-80 -60 -40 -20 0 20 40 60 80
Ion
Saturation
Region
Electron
Transition
Region
Electron
Saturation
Region
V
I



Technical Information Sheet 531 3 Hiden Analytical

follows utilising several well known
theories of interpretation.


The complete process of measuring
the I-V characteristic, analysing and
displaying the results (as a function of
time, position or other external
parameter) requires little prior
knowledge by the operator.

An overview of the entire automated
analysis routine using the standard
ESPION technique follows.
Step by Step Analysis Overview

- Floating Potential
The floating potential is the easiest
parameter to determine since it is by
definition the voltage at which the probe
collects no current. A simple scan of the
I-V characteristic will yield the floating
potential:


- Ion Number Density
The ion saturation zone is analysed to
give the ion number density. The two
main (and easily implemented) theories
that can be used are the Orbital Motion







Limited (OML) technique of Laframboise
and the cold ion approximation of Allen,
Boyd and Reynolds (ABR). Hidens
Windows ESPsoft software offers both
interpretations. The OML technique is
considered briefly here.

In short, a line is fitted to a plot of I
2

versus V in the ion saturation region as
shown, and the slope of this line is used
to calculate the ion density according to
the relation:


- Electron Number Density,
Electron Temperature & Plasma
Potential
The square root of the ion current fit is
added to the original I-V data to obtain a
characteristic which consists of an
electron current component only. This is
shown below.
Hidens ESPION - Advanced Langmuir Probe automates this entire process
-100 -80 -60 -40 -20 0 20 40
0.000000
0.000001
Transition
Region
Ion Satuation
Region
Extrapolated Square of
Ion Current in Transition
Region
Slope (
I
o
n

C
u
r
r
e
n
t
)

2
Probe Voltage

0 5 10 15 20 25
-0.002
-0.001
0.000
0.001
Floating Potential
P
r
o
b
e

C
u
r
r
e
n
t

(
A
)
Probe Bias (V)

) (
) ( ) ( 10 42 . 1
2
2 / 1 2 / 1 15
m A
slope amu M x
i
p
n

=




Technical Information Sheet 531 4 Hiden Analytical



To determine the electron
temperature, plasma potential and
electron density the natural logarithm
of electron current versus probe
potential is plotted from this electron
current characteristic as shown below.

) ( ) (
) (
10 73 . 3
2
13
eV T m A
amps I
x n
e p
est
e
=

Slope
T
e
1
=


Using the ln(Ie) versus V plot, the
electron temperature is found by fitting
a line to the transition region as shown
above and is equal (in units of eV,
where 1 eV = 11600K) to the negative
inverse of the slope of this line. The
plasma potential is the probe voltage
corresponding to the intersection of the
fitted electron saturation and transition
lines. To find the electron density, the
electron saturation current, the electron

current at the plasma potential, is used
in the equation shown above.

- Electron Energy Distribution
Function (EEDF)
The EEDF is determined by the
Druyvestyn method which uses the
second derivative of electron current
with respect to voltage as calculated
from the electron current characteristic.


In the above analysis steps the
following variable have been used:

Vf = Floating Potential
Vp = Plasma Potential
V = Probe Electrode Voltage
A
p
= Probe Area
M = Ion Mass
-100 -80 -60 -40 -20 0 20 40 60 80 100
0.00
0.01
0.02
0.03
0.04
0.05
0.06
P
r
o
b
e

C
u
r
r
e
n
t
Probe Voltage

=
-100 -50 0 50 100
0.0000
0.0002
0.0004
0.0006
0.0008
Square Root of Fitted Line
to I2-V in Ion Saturation
I
o
n

C
u
r
r
e
n
t

F
u
n
c
t
io
n
Probe Voltage

-100 -80 -60 -40 -20 0 20 40 60 80 100
0.00
0.01
0.02
0.03
0.04
0.05
0.06
E
le
c
t
r
o
n

C
u
r
r
e
n
t
Probe Voltage

+
-20 0 20 40 60 80 100
-18
-16
-14
-12
-10
-8
-6
-4
-2
Ln(I
sat
)
Plasma Potential
and electron satuation
current are
determined at
Intersection Point
V
p
Slope = -1/T
e
Electron
Saturation
Line
L
n
(
I
e
)
Voltage

0 5 10 15 20 25 30
0
20
40
60
80
100
EEDF
f
(
E
)
Electron Energy (eV)

2
2
2 / 1
2
) (
2
) (
4
) (
dV
V I d
e
V V m
e A
V f
e
p e
p
E

=




Technical Information Sheet 531 5 Hiden Analytical

m
e
= Electron Mass
n
I
= Ion Density
n
e
= Electron Density
I
esat
= Electron Saturation Current
e = electron charge
I = I
ion
+ I
electron

I
e
= electron current
f
E
(V) = electron energy distribution as
a function of probe voltage






































































Technical Information Sheet 531 6 Hiden Analytical

Appendix I - definitions
- Plasma Potential
The plasma potential is the voltage
inside the plasma. It is always positive
with respect to the most positive body
with which it is in contact. In many
cases, the plasma potential provides a
good indication of the energy of positive
ions incident on surfaces of interest.

- Floating Potential
This is the potential at which an object
in contact with the plasma collects no
current. Or in other words, the potential
attained by an electrically isolated body
in the plasma. The separation between
the floating and plasma potential are
related though the electron energy
distribution and ion mass.

- Electron Density
The electron density is simply the
number of electrons per unit volume
within the plasma.

- Ion Density
The ion density is the number density
of the ions per unit volume within the
plasma. Ions can be negative or
positive. For an electropositive
discharge, all ions formed in the plasma
have a positive charge and the ion and
electron densities in the bulk of the
plasma are equal. For an
electronegative discharge, the ions may
be either positive or negative, in which
case the sum of electron and negative
ion densities must equal the positive ion
density.

- Electron Temperature
The electron temperature (assuming a
Maxwellian distribution of velocities) is
the mean energy of electrons in the
plasma.

- Electron Energy Distribution
Function (EEDF)
In a typical cold laboratory plasma, the
electrons are usually much more
energetic than the ions and the majority
of the energy within the plasma is
contained in the electrons. Electrons
usually have a spread of energies and
knowing the distribution of these
energies is of key importance since the
electrons are largely responsible for
many of the reactions in the plasma.
The figure below shows the EEDF of a
Maxwellian plasma for several electron
temperatures.













0 10 20 30 40 50
0.0
0.1
0.2
0.3
0.4
0.5
T=10eV
T=5eV
T=2eV
T=1eV
f
(
E
)
Energy (eV)



Technical Information Sheet 531 7 Hiden Analytical

Appendix II - Frequently
asked questions (FAQs)

The information of the preceding
sections provides a general overview of
the Langmuir probe technique. The
following FAQs and corresponding
responses attempt to deal with issues
arising in specific applications by
describing the features of Hidens
ESPION probe which have been
specifically developed.

Q1 How can the ESPION help me?

A1 The ESPION provides detailed
information about the key parameters in
your plasma process. Knowledge of
these can assist in identifying
processing problems, in designing and
troubleshooting new processes and in
checking for deviations between
chambers.

Q2 My process uses depositing /
etching gases, will the ESPION probe
become contaminated and will this
affect the results?

A2 The ESPION probe has been
developed with these applications in
mind. ESPsoft software enables
the active probe tip to be automatically
toggled between acquire and clean
cycles between individual scans
ensuring that data is always acquired
with a clean probe tip. Cleaning
is achieved by ion bombardment
sputtering or by joule heating when
collecting an electron current.

Q3 My plasma is generated with RF
voltages, will this affect the
measurements?

A3 In an RF plasma, a significant
AC voltage can develop between the
plasma and probe tip. The ESPION
uses a passive technique incorporating
a high frequency compensation
electrode together with a string of
inductors immediately behind the tip,
effectively a tuned LC circuit, in order to
remove this AC component and its
harmonics. The inductors are air cooled
to prevent degradation in hot
environments.

Q4 What type of tip materials are
used?

A4 ESPION can be supplied with
many different types of tip materials
including Molybdenum, Tungsten,
Platinum etc. The tips are easily user
interchangeable.

Q5 My chamber is often coated with
insulating materials, does this affect the
measurements?

A5 ESPION employs an integral low
frequency reference electrode which
compensates for chambers with
poor or no ground reference. The
reference probe also serves to track and
eliminate low frequency noise due to
mains/power supply instabilities.

Q6 Can I use pulsed plasmas?

A6 Yes. The ESPION probe is
capable of making measurements in
plasmas which are modulated upto 100
kHz. The gating resolution is 1
microsecond. The complete timing
electronics, gating, delay etc. are
contained within the ESPION control
unit and controlled by ESPsoft software
so that only the pulse which modulates
the plasma is required as an input.



Technical Information Sheet 531 8 Hiden Analytical


Q7 Can I make spatially resolved
measurements?

A7 Yes. The ESPION can be
supplied with an automated z-drive
which is controlled via ESPsoft software
allowing data to be taken as a function
of position within the chamber.