Frequency dependence of the electrical asymmetry effect in dual-frequency capacitively coupled discharges

Using experimental measurements complemented with particle-in-cell (PIC) simulations, we demonstrate a reduction in the electrical asymmetry effect in capacitively coupled discharges for low excitation frequencies (0.8 MHz f 10 MHz). These results confirm PIC simulation predictions made by [I. Korolov, Z. Donkó, U. Czarnetzki, and J. Schulze, J. Phys. D: Appl. Phys. 45, 465205 (2012)], where this effect was investigated for dual-frequency discharges in which the driving frequencies are phase-shifted harmonics. Because the reduction in electrical asymmetry is a sensitive function of the secondary electron emission coefficient, we are able to non-invasively estimate this coefficient as 0.035 for argon ions incident on aluminium electrodes.