Probe Measurements in a Beam Plasma Discharge

The influence of the beam energy and beam current density on the parameters of the plasma is investigated. The efficiency of carrier generation by collective interactions (Langmuir-oscillations) is compared with that by the single collision mechanism. The additional negative charging of the static probe caused by the beam electrons is used for the determination of the beam electron density.     

Experimental Study of Planar Langmuir Probe Characteristics in Electron Current-Carrying Magnetized Plasma

Experimental study of planar Langmuir probe characteristics in a magnetized plasma with an electron current along the direction of the magnetic field shows that the usual procedure for determination of the electron temperature and plasma density, which is applicable in a current-free magnetized plasma, gives erroneous results for these plasma parameters. When this procedure is applied on the characteristics measured at two opposite orientations of the probe collecting surface with respect to the direction of the electron drift, different values of the electron temperature are obtained. These virtual electron temperatures and corresponding plasma densities calculated from the measured ion saturation currents are higher and/or smaller than the exact local electron temperature and plasma density. Calculation of particular averages of these quantities is proposed as a possible way to obtain correct results for the local electron temperature and plasma density. These averages are used in the approximate evaluation of the electron drift velocity from the electron saturation currents measured at the two orientations of the probe collecting surface.     

Langmuir单探针诊断射频辉光放电等离子体及其数据处理

Langmuir探针是诊断等离子体参数的重要手段.报道了在氩气射顿(13.56MHz)辉光放电等离子体中使用调谐单探针进行诊断,对探针I-V特性曲线的统计噪声进行了数字滤波的光滑化处理,而后求二次微商.在相同的放电条件下,使用自行设计的微分电路,对探针特性二次微商进行在线测量.这两种方法得到的二次微商结果能够较好地符合.     

Methods for the Numerical Calculation of the Plasma Potential from Measured Langmuir Probe Characteristics

In a previous paper the results of the Langmuir probe experiment carried out on board of two INTERKOSMOS satellites have been described. The experiences have shown that the usage of high quality algorithms for analyzing the current-voltage-characteristics is necessary to yield real physical parameters. The key problem is the determination of the plasma potential. This paper reviews the different methods to determine the plasma potential especially under the circumstances of computer application. The test of the well developed methods shows, that for the evaluation of the applied methods a number of different factors, discussed in the following sections of this paper, has to be taken into account. The used test data are model values or real measurements obtained by the satellite missions IK-10, IK-18 and BULGARIA-1300. The computer procedures have been realized as FORTRAN-subroutines for the BESM 6 and ES 1040.     

Plasma Beam Discharge in Carbon Dioxide

The paper deals with the dissociation of carbon dioxide in nonequilibrium plasma of a stationary plasma-beam discharge. Experimental results of spectroscopic and probe measurements of plasma parameters are given. Moreover, a mass-spectrometric analysis of gaseous products of the chemical reactions is presented. In addition the measurement of the deposition rate of solid products by means of a quartz oscillator is described. The results show that plasma beam discharge is an effective tool for inducing plasma-chemical reactions.     

Spatial Characteristics of the Beam Plasma Discharge in Crossed Electric and Magnetic Fields

The paper presents the results of the experimental investigation of the beam plasma discharge spatial structure in crossed fields induced by adding a high ionization potential gas to the discharge. Direct experimental evidence of the polarization mechanism of the radial current in a device with this type of discharge has been obtained.     

On Electron Concentration Distribution along the Radius of the Positive Column of a Glow Discharge in Electronegative Gases

It is shown in this paper that the form of the electron concentration distribution along the radius of the positive column in an oxygen discharge depends on the relative concentration of negative ions α = n_-/n_e in the plasma. It is found that in discharges in electronegative gases everywhere along the radius of the positive column, where α > 10, the electron concentration is equal to its value on the tube axis (plane electron distribution along the radius of the positive column). It is shown that an increase of the discharge current leads to the decrease of α and to the change of the distribution of profile n_e from plane to parabolic. However, weak laminar oxygen pumping along the positive column leads to more plane an electron concentration distribution because an increase of the negative ions concentration takes place. It is induced by the decrease of oxygen atoms density on account of their carrying out by the flow.     

Langmuir Probe Determination of Charged Particles Density in an rf Discharge

The article presents results of probe measurements of the electron and ion densities in an argon rf discharge. The electron density is determined from the electron probe current at the space potential which is estimated by extrapolation of the linear part of the probe electron current dependence to the plasma potential. The plasma potential is calculated from the floating potential. The positive ion density is determined from the probe ion saturated current according to collisional KOPICZYNSKI and ZAKREWSKI model [1]. The agreement between the electron and ion densities is better than in the work of HOPKINS and GRAHAM [2], where the collisionless Lafram-boise theory is used under similar conditions.     

Investigation of a Drifting Plasma Containing Negative Ions by Cylindrical Langmuir Probe Ion Mass Spectrometer

The study of drifting plasma in the laboratory or the ionsphere is not a straightforward problem because of the many variables such plasma will encounter. The presence of negative ions will add to the complication due to the detachment mechanism and other physical processes. It is not easy to separate the negative ion current component from the electron current component. To study negative ion population and mass spectra in the lower ion-sphere the value of the mean free path ? and the Debye shielding radius ?o of the medium should be taken into consideration together with the collision frequency of the different charged particles. Cylindrical Langmuir probes have been used successfully as dianostic techniques for the drifting plasma. A cylindrical probe of suitable radius in relation to ? and ?o was chosen. The probe was swept by a composite wave-form which contained a sawtooth sweep and two audio -frequency signals. The experiment was flown on board a stabilised rocket "Centaure" at high latitudes at Norway. The outputs yielded information about : 1. The first derivative of the current i with respect to the applied probe voltage -V 2. Percent modulation from which d2 i/dv2 was obtained. The second derivative is a function of the energy distribution function of the charged particles. The negative ion Gaussian peaks of energy are easily detached on the energy distribution function graph from those of thermal electrons.     

大气压氩气射流等离子体的光谱特性研究

等离子体喷枪是一种重要的等离子体源,已成为近几年低温等离子体研究的一个重要课题。本文利用钨针-钨丝网电极制作了直流喷枪装置,在大气压空气中产生了稳定的等离子体羽,并采用发射光谱的方法,对等离子体羽的等离子体参数进行了研究。在钨针电极与钨丝网电极之间放出耀眼的白光,钨丝网电极出口的气流下游有火苗形状的等离子体羽喷出。在电压保持不变的条件下(13.5 kV),等离子体羽长度随气体流量增加而增大;在气体流量保持不变的条件下(10 L·min-1),羽长度随外加电压的增大而增大。在气体流量一定的条件下,放电电压和放电电流呈反比例关系,即电压随着电流的增大而减小,说明放电属于辉光放电。采集了该喷枪在300～800 nm范围内的放电发射光谱,通过玻尔兹曼方法对放电等离子体电子激发温度进行了测量。结果表明,电子的激发温度随外加电压的增大而降低,随着工作气体流量的减小而升高。利用放电的基本理论对上述现象做了解释。这些研究结果对大气压均匀放电等离子体源的研制和工业应用具有重要意义。     

Kinetics of the Electron Component in the Turbulent Electron-Beam Discharge Plasma in Diatomic Gases and Comparison of some Macroscopic Properties between the Plasmas of the Beam and the Glow Discharge

The present paper is devoted to the investigation of the kinetics of the electron component in the stationary beam discharge plasma in molecular nitrogen. Using the Boltzmann equation with the inclusion of the elastic and the main inelastic binary collisions and also the Coulomb interaction between the charged particles we have calculated the energy distribution function and some macroscopic quantities of the electrons within a large range of parameters. Using our earlier results for the beam discharge plasma in hydrogen, also the dependence of the macroscopic quantities on the kind of molecular gas is discussed. Finally, the comparison of some macroscopic properties of the beam and the glow discharge plasma was performed under the condition of equal power input per volume unit in both types of plasmas in nitrogen.     

Langmuir Probe Characterization of a RF Discharge Excited in Ar/C2F3Cl Mixtures during Plasma Deposition Processes

The apparatus for measurements of probe characteristic and its second derivative during plasma assisted thin film deposition is described. To avoid the probe surface contamination an impulse method combined with ion bombardment of the probe surface was used. Experimental evidence of the effectiveness of this method in the discharge fed with Ar/C₂F₃Cl mixtures is given. Measurements of the second derivative of the probe current have indicated an electron distribution different from the Maxwellian. Negative ions have been found in the discharge, the concentration of which has been estimated to be at most by one order of magnitude higher than the electron density.     

Discharge Characteristics of the Penning Plasma Source

The results of investigation of discharge characteristics of the Penning plasma source are presented. Volt-ampere characteristics (VAC), energy distribution, and mass-charge composition of ions emitted from the discharge under different modes of its combustion were measured. The connection between the discharge current bursts and increase in the potential drop (up to 50% of the anode voltage) is established. The measured VACs agree well with the theoretical dependencies. It is shown that the content of atomic hydrogen ions increases from 5 to 10% with an increase in the anode voltage from 1 to 3.5 kV and the power applied in the discharge (from 0.2 to 3 W).     

Determination of Canrenone in Spironolactone Using Second Derivative Spectrophotometry

Second derivative spectrophotometry has been used to determine canrenone (I), the main degredation product in spironolactone (II). Second derivative at 300 nm was found linearly related to concentration in the range of 0.2–1 mg% I has been determined in II down to concentration level of 0.2 mg%. The results were found reproducible with a relative standard deviation of 1.7%.     

The Single Langmuir Probe under Orbital-Limited Conditions in a Low-Density Collisional Plasma

The cylindrical Langmuir probe under orbital-limited conditions was used to determine the charge density in a low-density collisional plasma. The Langmuir's theory was applied to both electron and ion saturation currents in their respective accelerating regions. Present study indicates that the length of the probe significantly affects the probe characteristics. A probe of suitable length under orbital-limited conditions may be useful under the experimental conditions where the radius of the probe is much smaller than the Debye lengt.     

Investigation of Discharge Characteristics Affected by Barrier Ribs in the Discharge Cell of Alternating‐Current Plasma Display Panel

To investigate the barrier ribs effect on the discharge characteristics in the discharge cell of Alternating‐Current Plasma Display Panel, three kinds of barrier ribs in the discharge cell: gas gap, dielectric gap, and metallic gap, were studied respectively. The distribution of potential and the distribution of density of charged particles were obtained by the two‐dimensional particle‐in‐cell kinetic simulation method. The simulation results shows that, in the Ne‐Xe (4%) gas mixture with the gas pressure of 300 Torr, the distribution of electric potential, in the corner of the left and right side, is very different, while the distribution in the center of cell in these three cases is almost same. And the formation process of the striation during the discharge is also discussed. The distribution of density shows that the striation phenomenon occurs along with the firing of discharge, and the existence of the dielectric ribs may reduce the charged particles density humps to some degree. (© 2006 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

用光偏转法研究气体中激光等离子体羽的特性

采用光偏转法研究气体中准分子激光与石墨和铜相互作用产生等离子体羽的特性。用空间和时间分辨的光偏转信号分析了等离子体羽的漂移速度和膨胀速度，并从光偏转信号中测得了物质波前面的激波速度。     

Discharge Characteristics of Microwave Plasma in Ethanol Solution

An apparatus was designed for generating plasma in ethanol solution. The plasma was generated on the top of the electrode by applying microwave radiation of 2.45 GHz. The results showed that ignition power decreased with increasing temperature of ethanol solution. However, ignition power increased with increasing pressure and point electrode radius of curvature. Plasma and bubbles were generated periodically in the same manner. The electron temperature of the plasma increased with increasing power, while it decreased with increasing pressure. (© 2015 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Langmuir Probe Diagnostics of a Low Temperature Non-Isothermal Plasma in a Weak Magnetic Field

This article presents measurements by a cylindrical Langmuir probe in the plasma of a DC cylindrical magnetron discharge át the pressure 1.5 Pa that aim at the experimental assessment of the influence of a weak magnetic field to the estimation of the electron density when using conventional methods of probe data interpretation. The probe data was obtained under the presence of a weak magnetic field in the range 1.10^?2?5.10^?2 T. The influence of the magnetic field on the electron probe current is experimentally assessed for two cylindrical probes with different radii, 50 μm and 21 μm. This assessment is based on comparison of the values of the electron density estimated from the electron current part with the values of the positive ion density estimated from the positive ion current part of the probe characteristic respectively by assuming that at the magnetic field strengths used in the present study the probe positive ion currents are possible to be assumed as uninfluenced by the magnetic field. For interpretation of the probe positive ion current two theories are used and compared to each other: the radial motion model by Allen, Boyd and Reynolds [10] and Chen [11] and the model that accounts for the collisions of positive ions with neutrals in the probe space charge sheath that we call Chen-Talbot model [8]. At lower magnetic field 3 · 10^?2 T the positive ion density values interpreted by using the Chen-Talbot model [8] are in better agreement with the values of electron density compared to those obtained by using the theory [10,11]; therefore the model [8] is used for calculation of the positive ion density from the probe data at higher magnetic fields. The comparison of the positive ion and electron density values calculated from the same probe data at higher magnetic fields shows that up to the magnetic field strength 4 . 10^?2 T with the probe 100 μm and up to 5 . 10^?2 T with the probe 42 μm in diameter respectively the decrease of the magnitude of the electron current at the space potential due to the magnetic field does not exceed the error limits that are usual for Langmuir probe measurements (absolute error ±20%).