Investigations on the energy influx at plasma surface processes

A summary is given of different elementary processes influencing the thermal balance and energetic conditions of substrate surfaces during plasma processing. The discussed mechanisms include heat radiation, kinetic and potential energy of charged particles and neutrals as well as enthalpy of involved chemical surface reactions. The energy and momentum of particles originating from the plasma or electrodes, respectively, influence via energy flux density (energetic aspect) and substrate temperature (thermal aspect) the surface properties of the treated substrates. For a few examples as magnetron sputtering of a-C:H films, sputter deposition of aluminum on micro-particles, and atomic nitrogen recombination in an ECR plasma the energetic balance of substrates during plasma processing are presented.