Pulsed voltage waveform with binary pulses for biasing of plasma

A method of forming a discrete multimodal ion energy distribution function (IEDF)-containing plasma, the method comprising:

• generating a first burst of a first plurality of pulses, wherein generating the first burst of the first plurality of pulses comprises:
• delivering, in a first pulsing state, a first pulse of the first plurality of pulses within a first burst of pulses, wherein the first pulse comprises a first voltage, a first period, and a first pulse-on-time (POT) within the first period;
• and
• delivering, in the first pulsing state, a second pulse of the first plurality of pulses within the first burst of pulses, wherein the second pulse comprises a second voltage, a second period, and a second POT within the second period, wherein the generating of the first pulse burst is delayed for a first sub-period of time after the delivery of a synchronization signal and the generating of the first pulse burst is halted for a second sub-period;
• and
• generating a second burst of a second plurality of pulses, wherein generating the second burst of the second plurality of pulses comprises:
• delivering, in a second pulsing state, a third pulse of the second plurality of pulses within a second burst of pulses, wherein the third pulse comprises a third voltage, a third period, and a third POT within the third period;
• and
• delivering, in the second pulsing state, a fourth pulse of the second plurality of pulses within the second burst of pulses, wherein the fourth pulse comprises a fourth voltage, a fourth period, and a fourth POT within the third period, and
• wherein the first voltage, the second voltage, the third voltage, and the fourth voltage are each different.

A waveform generator, comprising:

• a system controller coupled to the waveform generator, the system controller comprising memory that includes computer-executable instructions and one or more processors configured to execute the computer-executable instructions and, individually or collectively, cause the waveform generator to generate a first burst of a first plurality of pulses by:
• delivering, in a first pulsing state, a first pulse of the first plurality of pulses within a first burst of pulses, wherein the first pulse comprises a first voltage, a first period, and a first pulse-on-time (POT) within the first period, and at least one of delaying the delivering of the first pulse for a first sub-period of time after the delivery of a synchronization signal or halting the delivering of the first pulse for a second sub-period of time;
• and
• delivering, in the first pulsing state, a second pulse of the first plurality of pulses within the first burst of pulses, wherein the second pulse comprises a second voltage, a second period, and a second POT within the second period;
• and
• the one or more processors are further configured to execute the computer-executable instructions and, individually or collectively, cause the waveform generator to generate a second burst of a second plurality of pulses by:
• delivering, in a second pulsing state, a third pulse of the second plurality of pulses within a second burst of pulses, wherein the third pulse comprises a third voltage, a third period, and a third POT within the third period;
• and
• delivering, in the second pulsing state, a fourth pulse of the second plurality of pulses within the second burst of pulses, wherein the fourth pulse comprises a fourth voltage, a fourth period, and a fourth POT within the third period, and
• wherein the first voltage, the second voltage, the third voltage, and the fourth voltage are each different.