Modelling of the Positive Column in an Argon-Hexamethyl-disiloxane dc Glow Discharge

A model is presented of the positive column of a dc glow discharge in argon with small admixtures of hexamethyldisiloxane (HMDS). The axial electric field, the ion production rates for direct-, stepwise-, pair-, and Penning ionization, the densities of metastable Ar atoms and of electrons, and the wall current of HMDS ions are calculated in dependence on HMDS admixture and discharge current density. For the calculations particle balance equations were used for a diffusion determined plasma in a mixture of two gaseous components. The reaction rates for the electron collision processes were determined applying the electron distribution function calculated for pure argon. Taking into account PENNING ionization of HMDS molecules by metastable argon atoms the decrease of electric field for increasing HMDS admixtures is according to the experimen-tally measured values. Also ion wall currents and electron densities are compared with experimen-tal values for thin film formation rate and results of probe measurements.     

氦气空心阴极放电动力学过程的模拟研究

利用流体模型模拟研究了氦气空心阴极放电的时空动力学过程,计算得到了不同放电时刻电子和亚稳态氦原子密度、电势、电场、基态电离速率和分步电离速率等的时空分布特性。特别是讨论了亚稳态原子和分步电离对于放电的影响。结果表明,随着电流的增长,放电处于五个不同的放电模式：第一阶段电流上升非常缓慢,为汤生放电模式,带电粒子密度、亚稳态原子密度和径向电场均很弱;第二阶段电流迅速上升,放电模式由汤生放电向空心阴极放电过渡,带电粒子密度、亚稳态原子密度和径向电场迅速增强;第三阶段达到准稳态阶段,放电电流增长速度变缓,形成了明显的阴极鞘层结构;第四阶段为空心阴极效应形成阶段,向稳态阶段过渡;第五阶段为稳态放电阶段。研究结果同时表明,亚稳态氦原子和分步电离在放电的初始阶段对于放电的发展作用较弱,在前三阶段中,电子的产生以基态电离为主。随着放电的发展,由亚稳态原子引起的分步电离对新的电子产生的作用逐渐接近并超过基态电离,对总电离的贡献率越来越高。     

DC column plasma kinetics in a longitudinal magnetic field

The cylindrical column plasma of a neon dc glow discharge under the influence of a weak longitudinal magnetic field is studied. An extended, fully self-consistent model of the column plasma has been used to determine the kinetic quantities of electrons, ions and excited atoms, the radial space charge field, and the axial electric field for given discharge conditions. The model includes a nonlocal kinetic treatment of the electrons by solving their spatially inhomogeneous kinetic equation, taking into account the radial space charge field and the axial magnetic field. The treatment is based on the two-term expansion of the velocity distribution and comprises the determination of its isotropic and anisotropic components in the axial, radial, and azimuthal direction. A transition from a distinctly nonlocal kinetic behavior of the electrons in the magnetic-field-free case to an almost local kinetic behavior has been found by increasing the magnetic field. The establishment of the electron cyclotron motion around the column axis increasingly restricts the radial electron energy transport and reduces the radial ambipolar current. The complex interaction of these transport phenomena with the alterations in the charge carrier production leads finally to a specific variation of the electric field components. The axial field increases by applying weak magnetic fields, however, decreases with increasingly higher magnetic fields. At higher magnetic fields, the radial space-charge field is considerably reduced     

Absolute Electron Impact Cross Sections for Single Ionization of Metastable Atoms of H,He, Ne,Ar, Kr,Xe and Rn

Cross sections for single ionization of metastable atoms of H, He, Ne, Ar, Kr, Xe and Rn by electrons with impact energy E (threshold < E < 200 eV) are determined using a recently developed semiclassical formula. The formula consists of an energy dependent term (classical binary encounter approximation) and a term containing the weighted sum of the squared radii of maximum charge density of the outer electron subshells (Born Bethe approximation). Although this formula was originally devised and applied for ground state atoms, a comparison of the present calculations with previous calculations and measurements indicates that this formula can also be used successfully in case of metastable atoms.     

流体-亚稳态原子传输混合模型模拟空心阴极放电特性

利用流体-亚稳态原子传输混合模型研究了氩气矩形空心阴极放电稳态时的参数. 数值计算得到了压强为10 Torr时的电势、电子、离子和亚稳态氩原子密度以及电子平均能量的分布. 结果表明电子和离子密度峰值为4.7×10¹² cm^-3, 亚稳态原子密度峰值为2.1×10¹³ cm^-3. 本文同时对流体-亚稳态原子传输混合模型和单一流体模型模拟得到的放电参数进行了比较. 结果表明, 分步电离是新电子产生的重要来源, 亚稳态原子对空心阴极放电特性有重要影响. 与单一流体模型相比, 混合模型计算得到的电子密度升高, 阴极鞘层宽度和电子平均能量降低. 关键词： 空心阴极放电 流体-亚稳态原子传输模型 电子密度 分步电离     

Inreased Power Concentration and its Effect on the Discharge Parameters on the Low Pressure Hg-Rare Gas Positive Column III. Effects of an Axial Rod

After the investigation of the influence of current and tube radius on the power concentration of the Hg-rare gas discharge in the two previous parts, part III deals with the corresponding effects of additional recombination surfaces. The plasma parameters (radiant flux of the resonance lines, field strength, electron density, electron energy distribution function) are measured in a discharge tube with an axial glass rod. With increasing rod diameter and increasing distance from the tube axis radial radiation intensity distribution becomes asymmetric. The field strength increases with the radius of the rod. The dependence of the field strength and that of the radiant flux on the parameters of the discharge do not basically change. The measured UV-radiation efficiency of the positive column is higher than that of discharges without axial rod for equal tube radius. This is attributed primarily to the changed radial electron density distribution and its effect on the collision processes.     

Ionization cross sections for electron scattering from metastable rare-gas atoms （Ne~＊ and Ar~＊）

The optical-model approach has been used to investigate the electron-impact ionization of metastable rare-gas atoms. A complex equivalent-local polarization potential is obtained to describe the ionization continuum channels. We have calculated the cross sections for collisional ionization of the metastable atoms Ne* and Ar* by electrons in the energy range from threshold to 200 eV. The present results are in agreement with the available experimental measurements and other theoretical calculations.     

Plasma-wall interactions in DC discharges and sheath of Langmuir probes

The plasma-wall interactions in various DC discharges and sheath of Langmuir probe are analyzed and discussed. The methods of their investigations are discussed including fluid and PIC MC. Various assumptions used in fluid models e.g. plasma neutrality, Bohm criterion, Boltzmann electrons approximation, etc. are analyzed. Ion heating and electron cooling effect at the DC plasma wall is discussed and explained. Langmuir probes measurements in high-temperature and ion thruster plasma are analyzed. The secondary electron emission influences the IV characteristic of Langmuir probe especially at positive voltages. However, only elastic reflection processes really contribute significantly to the probe current. The elastic SEE processes reflect electrons from probe with the same relatively high speed. It was observed that the axial magnetic field influences probe characteristics and floating potential more significantly than radial field. The axial field deflects all electrons approaching probe.     

Diagnostics of an inductively coupled plasma in oxygen

Spatial time-integrated and space-time resolved profiles of excited atoms of oxygen were measured by optical emission spectroscopy for inductively coupled plasma (ICP) in oxygen. The discharge was sustained by a single turn coil supplied by 13.56 MHz RF generator delivering 100 and 200 W of power. The spatial emission profiles give the anatomy of the discharge required in order to understand the basic kinetics of ICP. Two types of nonuniformities are observed, azimuthal anisotropy and radial nonuniformity, both caused by spatially dependent energy supply to the electrons. Our experimental results show that oxygen is much more affected by azimuthal anisotropy and radial nonuniformity than argon. It is due to a different role of metastable atoms in kinetics of excitation, whereby stepwise excitation in oxygen is less probable than in argon. Optical emission data are supplemented by Langmuir probe measurements of electron densities and plasma potentials. Electrons gain energy from the time varying fields close to the coil, and the energy is not redistributed along the radius before it is dissipated in excitation, thus the observations are not consistent with the nonlocal theory predictions for the range of pressures, geometry, and power covered in this paper     

Ionization equilibrium of atoms in a strong magnetic field (the saha formula)

The effect of an external magnetic field on the ionization equilibrium of atoms in the nondegenerate nonrelativistic plasma is examined. When taken into account that the interaction of the magnetic moments of electrons with the magnetic field immediately changes their kinetic energy, which is incorrect, the degree of ionization of atoms will increase with increase in the magnetic field strength compared to the atomic concentration in the absence of a magnetic field at the same temperature. When taken into account that this energy changes in view of the Pauli principle and spontaneous minimization of the quantum system, the degree of ionization must decrease with increase in the external magnetic field strength, that is, a strong magnetic field suppresses ionization of atoms in the nonrelativistic plasma at a given temperature. Byelorussian State University; Brest State University. Translated from Izvestiya Vysshikh Uchebnykh Zavedenii, Fizika, No. 7, pp. 36–39, July, 1999.     

Electron collisions with laser cooled and trapped metastable helium atoms: total scattering cross sections

Absolute measurements of total scattering cross sections for low energy (5-70 eV) electrons by metastable helium (2(3)S) atoms are presented. The measurements are performed using a magneto-optical trap which is loaded from a laser-cooled, bright beam of slow He(2(3)S) atoms. The data are compared with predictions from convergent close coupling and R matrix with pseudostate calculations, and we find good agreement between experiment and theory.     

Confinement physics for thermal, neutral, high-charge-state plasmas in nested-well solenoidal traps

A theoretical study is presented which indicates that it is possible to confine a neutral plasma using static electric and solenoidal magnetic fields. The plasma consists of equal temperature electrons and highly stripped ions. The solenoidal magnetic field provides radial confinement, while the electric field, which produces an axial nested-well potential profile, provides axial confinement. A self-consistent, multidimensional numerical solution for the electric potential is obtained, and a fully kinetic theoretical treatment on axial transport is used to determine an axial confinement time scale. The effect on confinement of the presence of a radial electric field is explored with the use of ion trajectory calculations. A thermal, neutral, high-charge-state plasma confined in a nested-well trap opens new possibilities for fundamental studies on plasma recombination and cross-field transport processes under highly controlled conditions.     

An investigation of high fractions of metastable helium atoms

Penning type discharge was adopted to excite helium atoms. It is suitable for generating high density metastables at a range from 0.1 mTorr to 0.5 Torr. The highest metastable density of 3.5 x 1010 cm-3 was observed at a static gas pressure of 0.5 Torr. The highest fraction of metastables (N12s/Nhe) of 10-3 in a low gas pressure was obtained. The variation of the magnetic field strength on the discharge does not result in a significant density change of the metastable helium atoms. When no magnetic field was applied, no discharge took place.     

Collective excitations of a degenerate gas at the BEC-BCS crossover

We study collective excitation modes of a fermionic gas of (6)Li atoms in the BEC-BCS crossover regime. While measurements of the axial compression mode in the cigar-shaped trap close to a Feshbach resonance confirm theoretical expectations, the radial compression mode shows surprising features. In the strongly interacting molecular BEC regime, we observe a negative frequency shift with increasing coupling strength. In the regime of a strongly interacting Fermi gas, an abrupt change in the collective excitation frequency occurs, which may be a signature for a transition from a superfluid to a collisionless phase.     

Elastic scattering of electrons by metastable hydrogen atoms in the presence of a resonant laser field

Within the framework of the rotating wave approximation the elastic scattering of electrons by metastable 2s state of hydrogen atoms is studied in the presence of a resonant laser field. The frequency of the circularly polarized laser field is chosen to match the 2s-3p transition frequency in the hydrogen atom. Variation of the cross section with laser intensity and with incident electron energy (50-150 eV) is investigated. Received: 18 July 1997 / Received in final form: 5 December 1997 / Accepted: 19 January 1998     

Effect of poloidal density variation of neutral atoms on the tokamak edge

Neutral atoms in the tokamak edge affect the electric field and plasma flow through charge exchange. Here, it is shown that these effects depend sensitively on the poloidal location of the atoms. It is found that the radial electric field and toroidal flow velocity in a collisional edge plasma are largest if the atoms are concentrated on the inboard side. This feature may explain MAST and COMPASS-D observations indicating easier H-mode access for inboard gas puffing. The results suggest an external means of controlling the toroidal flow and radial electric field and their shear, and have motivated further MAST measurements appearing to support the predictions.     

Evolution of the theory of a “luminous” electron

A brief survey is presented here of studies contributing to the theory of synchrotron radiation and several quantum effects which accompany the motion of electrons in a magnetic field. Equations which describe the amplitude characteristics of radial and axial oscillations of an electron moving in a nonuniform magnetic field with a weak focus are derived on the basis of the quantum theory. The characteristics of electron spin are analyzed, with oscillations in a nonuniform field (spontaneous polarization) taken into account. Depolarizing spin resonances in accumulators are interpreted in terms of the quantum theory.