numerical simulation of electron cyclotron resonance discharge generated by permanent magnets

In recent years, the technology of plasma processing and thin film deposition using electron cyclotron resonance plasma (ecr) sources has been developed and widely utilized in plasma processing at low pressures due to its higher ionization rate compared to dc and rf plasma sources, as well as its lower sheath potential. one of the challenges of ecr plasma processing systems is the requirement for expensive magnetic field generation systems. this issue can be addressed by using permanent magnets instead of magnetic coils for generating magnetic fields. in this article, magnetic field profile of four ndfeb grade 42 permanent block magnets have been computed using magnetic field no current (mfnc) module of comsol software and the optimal arrangement of magnets, for which resonant surfaces are placed inside the discharge chamber, has been determined. then, microwave generated discharge in the presence of permanent magnets have been computed using plasma and electromagnetic wave (emw) modules. additionally, we calculated characteristics of the discharge such as plasma density and microwave power absorption.