An investigation into the effect of design parameters on plasma density in DBD (Dielectric Barrier Discharges)

DBD (Dielectric Barrier Discharges) plasma is often used to clean the surface of semiconductors. The cleaning performance is affected by many process parameters such as electric voltage, the gas composition, gas speed, thickness of the dielectric wall, gap distance, and plasma duration time. In this study, the plasma density is predicted by a coupled simulation of gas flow, chemistry mixing and reaction, plasma generation, and electric field. A 13.56 MHz RF source is used to generate plasma. The effect of the dielectric thickness, the gap distance, the gas flow velocity, and electric voltage on the plasma density is investigated. It is shown that the plasma density increases as the dielectric thickness decreases, the gap distance increases, the gas velocity increases, and electric voltage increases, respectively. Finally, experiments are carried out to verify the analysis results.