A model for tailored-waveform radiofrequency sheaths

The sheath physics of radiofrequency plasmas excited by a sinusoidal waveform is reasonably well understood, but the existing models are complicated and are not easily extended to the more complex waveforms recently introduced in applications. Turner and Chabert (2014 Appl. Phys. Lett. 104 164102) proposed a model for collisionless sheaths that can easily be solved for arbitrary waveforms. In this paper we extend this model to the case of collisional sheaths in the intermediate pressure regime. Analytical expressions are derived for the electric field, the electric potential and the density profiles in the sheath region. The collisionless and collisional models are compared for a pulsed-voltage waveform.