Study of plasma parameters of coaxial plasma source using triple Langmuir probe and Faraday cup diagnostics

Coaxial plasma guns are a type of plasma source that produces plasma which propagates radially and axially controlled by the shape of the ground electrode, which has attracted much interest in several applications. In this work, a 120° opening angle of CPG nozzle is used as a plasma gun configuration that operates at the energy of 150 J. The ionization of polyethylene insulator between the electrodes of the gun produces a cloud of hydrogen and carbon plasma.The triple Langmuir probe and Faraday cup are used to measure plasma density and plasma temperature. These methods are used to measure the on-axis and off-axis plasma divergence of the coaxial plasma gun. The peak values of ion densities measured at a distance of 25 mm on-axis from the plasma gun are(1.6±0.5)×10^(19)m^(-3)and(2.8±0.6)×10^(19)m^(-3)for hydrogen and carbon plasma respectively and the peak temperature is 3.02±0.5 eV. The mean propagation velocity of plasma is calculated using the transit times of plasma at different distances from the plasma gun and is found to be 4.54±0.25 cm/μs and 1.81±0.18 cm/μs for hydrogen and carbon plasma respectively. The Debye radius is obtained from the measured experimental data that satisfies the thin sheath approximation. The shot-to-shot stability of plasma parameters facilitates the use of plasma guns in laboratory experiments. These types of plasma sources can be used in many applications like plasma opening switches, plasma devices, and as plasma sources.

Wave field structure and power coupling features of blue-core helicon plasma driven by various antenna geometries and frequencies

This paper deals with wave propagation and power coupling in blue-core helicon plasma driven by various antennas and frequencies.It is found that compared to non-blue-core mode,for blue-core mode,the wave can propagate in the core region,and it decays sharply outside the core.The power absorption is lower and steeper in radius for blue-core mode.Regarding the effects of antenna geometry for blue-core mode,it shows that half helix antenna yields the strongest wave field and power absorption,while loop antenna yields the lowest.Moreover,near axis,for antennas with m=+1,the wave field increases with axial distance.In the core region,the wave number approaches to a saturation value at much lower frequency for non-blue-core mode compared to blue-core mode.The total loading resistance is much lower for blue-core mode.These findings are valuable to understanding the physics of blue-core helicon discharge and optimizing the experimental performance of blue-core helicon plasma sources for applications such as space propulsion and material treatment.

Plasma density enhancement in radio-frequency hollow electrode discharge

The plasma density enhancement outside hollow electrodes in capacitively coupled radio-frequency(RF) discharges is investigated by a two-dimensional(2D) particle-in-cell/Monte-Carlo collision(PIC/MCC) model. Results show that plasma exists inside the cavity when the sheath inside the hollow electrode hole is fully collapsed, which is an essential condition for the plasma density enhancement outside hollow electrodes. In addition, the existence of the electron density peak at the orifice is generated via the hollow cathode effect(HCE), which plays an important role in the density enhancement. It is also found that the radial width of bulk plasma at the orifice affects the magnitude of the density enhancement, and narrow radial plasma bulk width at the orifice is not beneficial to obtain high-density plasma outside hollow electrodes.Higher electron density at the orifice, combined with larger radial plasma bulk width at the orifice,causes higher electron density outside hollow electrodes. The results also imply that the HCE strength inside the cavity cannot be determined by the magnitude of the electron density outside hollow electrodes.

Development of Powerful RF Plasma Sources for Present and Future NBI Systems

This paper deals with the topic of RF plasma sources and their application inhigh-power neutral beam heating systems for nuclear fusion devices. RF sources represent aninteresting alternative to the conventional arc discharge sources. Due to the absence of hotfilaments they exhibit an inherent simplicity both in mechanical and electrical aspects andconsequently offer advantages in terms of cost savings, gain in availability and reliability andreduced maintenance. This renders the RF plasma source attractive for any long pulse (> 10 sec) NBIsystem and in particular for the ITER NBI system. The latter, however, requires that the RF plasmasource is also capable of delivering negative rather than positive hydrogen ions. In the first partof the paper the types, characteristics and operation experience of RF plasma sources for positiveions in operation are described. The second part is devoted to the development for ITER NBI: thebasic requirements, physics and technology issues and the present status are discussed.

Linear Plasma Sources for Large Area Film Deposition:A Brief Review

By utilization of different excitation power sources, linear plasma sources can be differentiated into DC, RF, VHF, microwave and dual frequency types. Through installing several linear plasma sources in parallel or adopting the so-called roll-to-roll （air-to-air） process, scale uniform linear plasma sources were realized and successfully applied to the deposition of large area uniform dielectric thin films, Furthermore, the magnetic field system can effectively reduce the recombination losses on the wall of the vacuum chamber and enhance the plasma density. Linear plasma sources with approximately one square meter deposition area with the plasma density of 1011 cm 3 have been developed, some of which have been used for the deposition of dielectric layers and large area plasma etching.

Oxide Coated Cathode Plasma Source of Linear Magnetized Plasma Device

Plasma source is the most important part of the laboratory plasma platform for fundamental plasma experimental research. Barium oxide coated cathode plasma source is well recognized as an effective technique due to its high electron emission current. An indirectly heated oxide coated cathode plasma source has been constructed on a linear magnetized plasma device. The electron emission current density can reach 2 A/cm2 to 6 A/cm2 in pulsed mode within pulse length 5-20 ms. A 10 cm diameter, 2 m long plasma column with density 10is m-3 to 1019 m3 and electron temperature Te --~ 3-7 eV is produced. The spatial uniformity of the emission ability is less than 4% and the discharge reproducibility is better than 97%. With a wide range of the plasma parameters, this kind of plasma source provides great flexibility for many basic plasma investigations. The detail of construction and initial characterization of oxide coated cathode are described in this paper.

Two-dimensional particle-in-cell plasma source ion implantation of a prolate spheroid target

A two-dimensional particle-in-cell simulation is used to study the time-dependent evolution of the sheath surrounding a prolate spheroid target during a high voltage pulse in plasma source ion implantation. Our study shows that the potential contour lines pack more closely in the plasma sheath near the vertex of the major axis, i.e. where a thinner sheath is formed, and a non-uniform total ion dose distribution is incident along the surface of the prolate spheroid target due to the focusing of ions by the potential structure. Ion focusing takes place not only at the vertex of the major axis, where dense potential contour lines exist, but also at the vertex of the minor axis, where sparse contour lines exist. This results in two peaks of the received ion dose, locating at the vertices of the major and minor axes of the prolate spheroid target, and an ion dose valley, staying always between the vertices, rather than at the vertex of the minor axis.

An investigation on improving the homogeneity of plasma generated by linear microwave plasma source with a length of 1550 mm

To develop a larger in-line plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition(PECVD)device,the length of the linear microwave plasma source needs to be increased to 1550 mm.This paper proposes a solution to the problem of plasma inhomogeneity caused by increasing device length.Based on the COMSOL Multiphysics,a multi-physics field coupling model for in-line PECVD device is developed and validated.The effects of microwave power,chamber pressure,and magnetic flux density on the plasma distribution are investigated,respectively,and their corresponding optimized values are obtained.This paper also presents a new strategy to optimize the wafer position to achieve the balance between deposition rate and film quality.Numerical results have indicated that increasing microwave power and magnetic flux density or decreasing chamber pressure all play positive roles in improving plasma homogeneity,and among them,the microwave power is the most decisive influencing factor.It is found that the plasma homogeneity is optimal under the condition of microwave power at 2000 W,chamber pressure at 15 Pa,and magnetic field strength at 45 mT.The relative deviation is within−3.7%to 3.9%,which fully satisfies the process requirements of the equipment.The best position for the wafer is 88 mm from the copper antenna.The results are very valuable for improving the quality of the in-line PECVD device.

Simulation of a helicon plasma source in a magnetoplasma rocket engine

The helicon plasma source,which generates high thrust and high impulse,is of vital importance for magnetoplasma rocket engines.In this work,a multi-component,two-dimensional,axisymmetric fluid model coupled with an electromagnetic field was developed to model the helicon discharge.The simulation results demonstrate that:(i)the discharge mode changes twice—each conversion is accompanied by a plasma density jump and an electron temperature peak in the discharge;(ii)when the input current increases,the plasma density increases,and ionization occurs faster;(iii)the background magnetic field clearly enhances the discharge;(iv)the plasma density may be smaller if the discharge has not entered the wave mode.

Gas pressure effect on plasma transport in a magnetic-filtered radio-frequency plasma source

Volume negative ion production relies on a magnetic filter(MF),where the plasma downstream of the MF is characterized by a strip-like pattern that consists of a bright and dense plasma region.In this work,we study,in a radio-frequency plasma source,the effects of operating pressure on this strip.This investigation,conducted using a Langmuir probe,shows that the plasma uniformity might be controlled through the gas pressure.Moreover,the operating pressure determines on which hemi-cylinder(side of magnetic field lines)the strip forms.This side inversion of the high-density plasma hemi-cylinder is due to an inversion of an ambipolar electric field that changes the E?×?B drift direction.

A Mirror-like ECR Plasma Source for Ionosphere Environment Simulator

A compact mirror-like ECR (electron cyclotron resonance) Plasma source for the ionosphere environment simulator was described for the fort time in China. The Overall sources system was composed of a 200 W 2.45 GHz microwave source, a coastal 3A./4 TEM-mode microwave resonance applicator, column and cylindrical Nd-Fe-P magnets, a quartz bell-shaped discharge chamber, a gas inlet system and a plasma-diffusing bore. The preliminary experiment demonstrated that ambi-polar diffusion plasma stream into the simulator (-500 mm long) formed an environment with following parameters: a plasma density ne of 104 cm-3 - 106 cm-3, an electron temperature Te < 5 eV at a pressure P of 10-1 Pa-10-3 Pa, a Plasma uniformity of > 80% over the experimental target with a 160-mm-in-diameter, satisfying primarily the requirement of simulating in a severe ionosphere environment.

A Study on the Tuned Bias of Substrate in an Inductively-coupled Plasma Source

in an inductively-coupled plasma (ICP), the dependence of radio-frequency (rf) tuned self-DC bias of substrate on the discharge parameters such as rf source power, gas pressure, gas now rate and electric connection of upper cover with ground have been studied. Experimental results show that the tuned bias of substrate can be generated and independently controlled in an inductively- coupled plasma without a rf bias source, and the advantage of this technique together with inductively-coupled plasma can find potential applications in plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition.

Numercial Simulation for Plasma Stream of ECR Plasma Source

Using a Monte Carlo method and resonable data in our experiment device, we simulate the plasma stream of ECR plasma source on condition that the plasma is collisionless. We can get the distribution of ion density and the effect of magnetic field on the plasma along the divergent magnetic field. The research is beneficial to plasma processing applications.

The Gridless Plasma Ion Source (GIS)for Plasma Ion Assisted Optical Coating

High-quality optical coating is a key technology for modern optics. lon-assisted deposition technology was used to improve the vaporized coating in 1980's. The GIS (gridless ion source), which is an advanced plasma source for producing a high-quality optical coating in large area, can produce a large area uniformity>1000 mm(diameter), a high ion current density - 0.5mA/cm2, 20 eV - 200 eV energetic plasma ions and can activate reactive gas and film atoms. Now we have developed a GIS system. The GIS and the plasma ion-assisted deposition technology are investigated to achieve a high-quality optical coating. The GIS is a high power and high current source with a power of l kW - 7.5 kW, a current of 10 A - 70 A and an ion density of 200 μA/cm2 - 500 μA/cm2. Because of the special magnetic structure, the plasma-ion extraction efficiency has been improved to obtain a maximum ion density of 500 μA/cm2 in the medium power (- 4kW) level. The GIS applied is of a special cathode structure, so that the GIS operation can be maintained under a rather low power and the lifetime of cathode will be extended. The GIS has been installed in the LPSX-1200 type box coating system. The coated TiO2, SiO2 films such as antireflective films with the system have the same performance reported by Leybold Co, 1992, along with a controllable refractive index and film structure.

Development of plasma sources for Dipole Research EXperiment(DREX)

Dipole Research EXperiment（DREX） is a new terrella device as part of the Space Plasma Environment Research Facility（SPERF） for laboratory studies of space physics relevant to the inner magnetospheric plasmas. Adequate plasma sources are very important for DREX to achieve its scientific goals. According to different research requirements, there are two density regimes for DREX. The low density regime will be achieved by an electron cyclotron resonance（ECR） system for the ‘whistler/chorus＇ wave investigation, while the high density regime will be achieved by biased cold cathode discharge for the desired ‘Alfvén＇ wave study. The parameters of ‘whistler/chorus＇ waves and ‘Alfvén＇ waves are determined by the scaling law between space and laboratory plasmas in the current device. In this paper, the initial design of these two plasma sources for DREX is described. Focus is placed on the chosen frequency and operation mode of the ECR system which will produce relatively low density ‘artificial radiation belt＇ plasmas and the seed electrons, followed by the design of biased cold cathode discharge to generate plasma with high density.

Study of electron-extraction characteristics of an inductively coupled radio-frequency plasma neutralizer

Inductively coupled radio-frequency（RF） plasma neutralizer（RPN） is an insert-free device that can be employed as an electron source in electric propulsion applications.Electron-extraction characteristics of the RPN are related to the bulk plasma parameters and the device＇s geometry.Therefore,the effects of different electron-extraction apertures and operational parameters upon the electron-extraction characteristics are investigated according to the global nonambipolar flow and sheath model.Moreover,these models can also be used to explain why the electron-extraction characteristics of the RPN strongly depend upon the formation of the anode spot.During the experimental study,two types of anode spots are observed.Each of them has unique characteristics of electron extraction.Moreover,the hysteresis of an anode spot is observed by changing the xenon volume-flow rates or the bias voltages.In addition,the rapid ignited method,gas-utilization factor,electron-extraction cost and other factors that need to be considered in the design of the RPN are also discussed.

Discharge Characteristics of Large-Area High-Power RF Ion Source for Positive and Negative Neutral Beam Injectors

A large-area high-power radio-frequency（RF） driven ion source was developed for positive and negative neutral beam injectors at the Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute（KAERI）. The RF ion source consists of a driver region, including a helical antenna and a discharge chamber, and an expansion region. RF power can be transferred at up to 10 kW with a fixed frequency of 2 MHz through an optimized RF matching system. An actively water-cooled Faraday shield is located inside the driver region of the ion source for the stable and steady-state operations of high-power RF discharge. Plasma ignition of the ion source is initiated by the injection of argongas without a starter-filament heating, and the argon-gas is then slowly exchanged by the injection of hydrogen-gas to produce pure hydrogen plasmas. The uniformities of the plasma parameter,such as a plasma density and an electron temperature, are measured at the lowest area of the driver region using two RF-compensated electrostatic probes along the direction of the shortand long-dimensions of the driver region. The plasma parameters will be compared with those obtained at the lowest area of the expansion bucket to analyze the plasma expansion properties from the driver region to the expansion region.

Characteristics of Single Cathode Cascaded Bias Voltage Arc Plasma

A single cathode with a cascaded bias voltage arc plasma source has been developed with a new quartz cathode chamber,instead of the previous copper chambers,to provide better diagnostic observation and access to the plasma optical emission.The cathode chamber cooling scheme is also modified to be naturally cooled only by light emission without cooling water to improve the optical thin performance in the optical path.A single-parameter physical model has been developed to describe the power dissipated in the cascaded bias voltage arc discharge argon plasmas,which have been investigated by utilizing optical emission spectroscopy（OES） and Langmuir probe.In the experiments,discharge currents from 50 A to 100 A,argon flow rates from 800 sccm to 2000 sccm and magnetic fields of 0.1 T and 0.2 T were chosen.The results show：（a） the relationship between the averaged resistivity and the averaged current density exhibits an empirical scaling law as η∝ j^（-0.63369） and the power dissipated in the arc has a strong relation with the filling factor;（b） through the quartz,the argon ions optical emission lines have been easily observed and are dominating with wavelengths between 340 nm and 520 nm,which are the emissions of Ar^＋-434.81 nm and Ar^＋-442.60 nm line,and theintensities are increasing with the arc current and decreasing with the inlet argon flow rate;and（c） the electron density and temperature can reach 2.0 × 10^19 m^-3 and 0.48 eV,respectively,under the conditions of an arc current of 90 A and a magnetic field of 0.2 T.The half-width of the ne radial profile is approximatively equal to a few Larmor radii of electrons and can be regarded as the diameter of the plasma jet in the experiments.

Modification of exposure conditions by the magnetic field configuration in helicon antenna-excited helium plasma

Modification of exposure conditions downstream in the diffusion chamber has been performed in helicon antenna-excited helium plasma by adjusting the magnetic field(intensity and geometry).In the inductively coupled mode(H mode),a reduction in ion and heat fluxes is found with increasing magnetic field intensity,which is further explained by the more highly magnetized ions off-axis around the last magnetic field lines(LMFL).However,in helicon wave mode(W mode),the increase in magnetic field intensity can dramatically increase the ion and heat fluxes.Moreover,the effect of LMFL geometry on exposure conditions is investigated.In H mode with contracting LMFL,off-axis peaks of both plasma density and electron temperature profiles shift radially inwards,bringing about a beam with better radial uniformity and higher ion and heat fluxes.In W mode,although higher ion and heat fluxes can be achieved with suppressed plasma cross-field diffusion under converging LMFL,the poor radial uniformity and a small beam diameter will limit the size of samples suitable for plasma irradiation experiments.