Investigation of a plasma source sustained by an electromagnetic surface wave at 2.45 GHz under free-fall regime
- 14 September 1989
- journal article
- Published by IOP Publishing in Journal of Physics D: Applied Physics
- Vol. 22 (9), 1288-1299
- https://doi.org/10.1088/0022-3727/22/9/008
Abstract
The plasma column sustained by an electromagnetic surface wave under the free-fall regime, a still unexplored pressure domain for such a plasma, has been experimentally investigated. Because of the relatively large values of the frequency (2.45 GHz) and plasma diameter (56 mm), the wave propagates either in the dipolar (m=1) or quadrupolar (m=2) mode rather than in the azimuthally symmetric mode (m=0). The radial distributions of the electron density and temperature, obtained by means of electrostatic probes, show the existence of a resonant absorption mechanism of the wave electric field by the electrons. The measured value of the power loss per electron, theta , is found to be four to ten times larger than the value extrapolated from a diffusion model for the m=0 mode. Such a discharge is intended to supply plasma in a reactor operating with a multipolar magnetic confinement used for surface processing.Keywords
This publication has 30 references indexed in Scilit:
- The similarity laws for the maintenance field and the absorbed power per electron in low-pressure surface wave produced plasmas and their extension to HF plasmas in generalPhysica Scripta, 1988
- Microwave discharges produced by surface waves in argon gasJournal of Physics D: Applied Physics, 1987
- Large-diameter plasma columns produced by surface waves at radio and microwave frequenciesJournal of Applied Physics, 1985
- Slow ionising high-frequency electromagnetic wave along a thin plasma columnJournal of Physics D: Applied Physics, 1984
- Plasma etching in magnetic multipole microwave dischargeApplied Physics Letters, 1984
- Characteristics of high-frequency and direct-current argon discharges at low pressures: a comparative analysisJournal of Physics D: Applied Physics, 1984
- Modelling of a low-pressure plasma column sustained by a surface waveJournal of Physics D: Applied Physics, 1983
- Characteristics and energy balance of a plasma column sustained by a surface waveJournal de Physique Lettres, 1982
- Theory of a plasma column sustained by a surface waveJournal of Physics D: Applied Physics, 1981
- Effect of a R.F, signal on the characteristic of a langmuir probeIl Nuovo Cimento (1869-1876), 1963