Control of the plasma chemistry of a pulsed inductively coupled methane plasma

The plasma chemistry in a pulsed inductively coupled plasma from methane is investigated. The densities of stable neutrals up to C4H10 are measured using quantitative mass spectrometry. It is demonstrated that the plasma composition for neutral species depends uniquely on the dissipated energy per source gas molecule, E-mean. This quantity can most easily be controlled by changing plasma power, gas flow or duty cycle of the pulsed plasma.