title: Abnormal heating of low-energy electrons in low-pressure capacitively coupled discharges.
abstract: In low-pressure capacitively coupled plasmas, high-energy electrons are collisionlessly heated by large rf fields in the sheaths while low-energy electrons are confined in the bulk plasma by the ambipolar potential. Low-energy electrons are typically inefficiently heated due to their low collisionality and the weak rf electric field present in the bulk. It is shown, however, that as a result of the nonlinear interaction between the electron motion and the weak rf field present in the bulk, low-energy electrons can be efficiently heated. Electrons in the bulk that bounce inside the electrostatic potential well with a frequency equal to the rf excitation frequency are efficiently heated by the coherent interaction with the rf field. This resonant collisionless heating can be very efficient and manifest itself as a plateau in the electron energy probability function.
authors.affiliation: Department of Electronics and Electrical Engineering, Pohang University of Science and Technology, Pohang 790-784, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: G Y
authors.initials: GY
authors.lastname: Park
authors.forename: S J
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: You
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Iza
authors.forename: J K
authors.initials: JK
authors.lastname: Lee