THE SPACE-TIME-AVERAGING PROCEDURE AND MODELING OF THE RF DISCHARGE, .2. MODEL OF COLLISIONAL LOW-PRESSURE RF DISCHARGE

A self-consistent equations system for the low-pressure RF discharge is formulated and qualitatively analyzed. If the plasma and sheath dimensions exceed the electron-energy relaxation length, a simple spatially averaged kinetic equation can be derived that resembles the conventional one for the local case. Since the energy-diffusion coefficient for the slow electrons that are trapped by the average electric field in the discharge center is small, the distribution function slope decreases significantly with the energy growth. Analytic estimates are derived and reasonable agreement with the experiments of Godyak is obtained.