Density Measurements in Low Pressure, Weakly Magnetized, RF Plasmas: Experimental Verification of the Sheath Expansion Effect

Autor: Yunchao Zhang, Christine Charles, Roderick W. Boswell
Jazyk: angličtina
Rok vydání: 2017
Předmět:
Zdroj: Frontiers in Physics, Vol 5 (2017)
Druh dokumentu: article
ISSN: 2296-424X
DOI: 10.3389/fphy.2017.00027
Popis: This experimental study shows the validity of Sheridan's method in determining plasma density in low pressure, weakly magnetized, RF plasmas using ion saturation current data measured by a planar Langmuir probe. The ion density derived from Sheridan's method which takes into account the sheath expansion around the negatively biased probe tip, presents a good consistency with the electron density measured by a cylindrical RF-compensated Langmuir probe using the Druyvesteyn theory. The ion density obtained from the simplified method which neglects the sheath expansion effect, overestimates the true density magnitude, e.g., by a factor of 3 to 12 for the present experiment.
Databáze: Directory of Open Access Journals