Diagnosis of Hydrogen Plasma in a Miniature Penning Ion Source by Double Probes

Parameters of hydrogen plasma in a miniature Penning discharge ion source, including the electron temperature and the electron density, were measured by using double probes. The results indicate that the electron density increases and the electron temperature decreases with the increase in gas pressure and the discharge current. The electron temperature is about 5 - 9 eV and the electron density is 6.0× 10^13 ～ 1.2 × 10^14 m^-3 while the discharge current is in a range of 50 - 120 μA.

Improved Double-Probe Technique for Spatially Resolved Diagnosis of Dual-Frequency Capacitive Plasmas

The conventional double-probe technique was improved with a combination of selfpowering and radio-frequency（RF） choking.RF perturbations in dual-frequency capacitively coupled discharge were effectively eliminated,as judged by the disappearance of self-bias on the probes.The improved technique was tested by spatially resolved measurements of the electron temperature and ion density in both the axial and radial directions of a dual-frequency capacitive plasma.The measured data in the axial direction were compared with simulation results,and they were excellently consistent with each other.The measured radial distributions of the ion density and electron temperature were influenced significantly by the lower frequency（LF） power.It was shown that superposition of the lower frequency to the higher frequency（HF） power shifted the maximum ion density from the radial center to the edge region,while the trend for the electron temperature profile was the opposite.The changing feature of the ion density distribution is qualitatively consistent with that of the optical emission intensity reported.

Monopole Antenna Probe for Density Measurements in Cold Plasmas

A simple diagnostic tool for density measurements in plasma with a certain spatial resolution is proposed in this paper. It uses the emission characteristics of monopole antenna to determine the dielectic property of plasma c = 1 - fp^2/f^2, with the fp electron plasma frequency related to plasma density. We immersed a inonopole antenna probe into plasma and introduced a microwave signal via a network analyzer. When the emitted power is maximized, the reflected power is minimized and there occurs a resonance. Since can be derived from the resonant frequency, this is actually a method to measure the absolute electron density. Validated by a comparison with the amended Langmuir double-probe method, the monopole antenna probe is valuable. In addition, it is free from the difficulties, such as fluctuation in plasma potential.

Measurement of Ion Parameters by Ion Sensitive Probe in ECR Plasma

Ion parameters in electron cyclotron resonance （ECR） microwave plasma were measured by ion sensitive probe and were compared with the electron parameters obtained by double Langmuir probe. The effects of gas pressure and microwave power on the ion temperature and density were analyzed. The spatial distribution of the ion parameters was also investigated by the ion sensitive probes with a tunable radial depth installed on different probe windows along the chamber axis. Results showed that the ion density measured by the ion sensitive probe was in good agreement with the electron density measured by the double Langmuir probe. The influ- ence of gas pressure on the ion parameters was stronger than that of microwave power. With the increase in working pressure, the ion temperature decreased monotonously with a decreasing rate larger than that at higher pressure. The ion density first increased to a peak （42.3~ 101~ cm-3） at 1 Pa and then decreased. The ion temperature and density increased little with the increase in the microwave power from 400 W to 800 W, The plasma far away from the resonant point is found to be radially uniform.

Investigation of Capacitively Coupled Argon Plasma Driven by Dual-Frequency with Different Frequency Configurations

Low pressure argon dual-frequency （DF） capacitively coupled plasma （CCP） is generated by using different frequency configurations, such as 13.56/2, 27/2, 41/2, and 60/2 MHz. Characteristics of the plasma are investigated by using a floating double electrical probe and optical emission spectroscopy （OES）. It is shown that in the DF-CCPs, the electron temperature Te decreases with the increase in exciting frequency, while the onset of 2 MHz induces a sudden increase in Te and the electron density increases basically with the increase in low frequency （LF） power. The intensity of 750.4 nm emission line increases with the LF power in the case of 13.56/2 MHz, while different tendencies of line intensity with the LF power appear for other configurations. The reason for this is also discussed.

Comparison of 2D Hybrid Simulational and Experimental Results for Dual-Frequency Capacitively Coupled Argon Plasmas

A two-dimensional hybrid simulation scheme is proposed to study the characteristics of dual-frequency （DF） capacitively coupled plasma （CCP） discharge based on the geometry of real device. Given the experimental parameters for argon plasma, the output from the fluid module such as ion density, number flux, electron temperature and the Monte-Carlo collision （MCC） results of ion energy distribution function （IEDF） as well as electron energy distribution function （EEDF） are obtained and discussed in detail. A novel complete floating double probe is designed to measure both density and temperature of electron and a quadrupole mass spectrometer is also equipped for IEDF investigations. The measurements on the density of bulk plasma, electron temperature and IEDF agree well, qualitatively, with the simulated results. A comparison with experimental results indicates that, since the structure of real device is taken into account, this model is capable of describing the global dynamic characteristics occurred in DF-CCP and presenting more reliable results than the model with an ideal chamber structure.

Investigation on Interaction between Cold Plasma with Catalysts

The characteristic parameters were measured with floating double probe method when cold plasma was interacting with catalysts, such as MoO3/Al2O3, NiY, Pd/Al2O3, which were used in the conversion of natural gas to C2 hydrocarbons through electrical field enhanced plasma catalysis. These parameters were compared in different input voltage, different atmosphere, before and after reaction in plasma field. The interaction between catalysts and cold plasma was also investigated. This confirm that cold plasma can enhanced catalysis effect.

Abnormal Enhancement of N_2^+ Emission Induced by Lower Frequency in N_2 Dual-Frequency Capacitively Coupled Plasmas

Nitrogen dual-frequency capacitively coupled plasmas （DF-CCPs） with different fre- quency configurations, i.e., 60/2 MHz and 60/13.56 MHz, are investigated by means of opticM emission spectroscopy （OES） and a floating double probe. The excited nitrogen molecule ion N＋（B） is monitored by measuring the emission intensity of the （0,0） bandhead of the first neg- ative system （FNS） at 391.44 nm. It is shown that in the discharge with 60/13.56 MHz, the N＋ emission intensity decreases with the increase in pressure. In the discharge with 60/2 MHz, however, an abnormal enhancement of N＋ emission at higher pressure is observed when a higher power of 2 MHz is added. Variation in the ion density shows a similar dependence on the gas pressure. This indicates that in the discharge with 60/2 MHz there is a mode transition from the alpha to gamma type when a higher power of 2 MHz is added at high pressures. Combining the measurements using OES and double probe, the influence of low frequency on the discharge is investigated and the excitation route of the N＋（B） state in the discharge of 60/2 MHz is also discussed.

Characterization of a New DC-Glow Discharge Plasma Set-Up to Enhance the Electronic Circuits Performance

The (DC-GDPAU) is a DC glow discharge plasma experiment that was designed, established, and operated in the Physics Department at Ain Shams University (Egypt). The aim of this experiment is to study and improve some properties of a printed circuit board (PCB) by exposing it to the plasma. The device consists of cylindrical discharge chamber with movable parallel circular copper electrodes (cathode and anode) fixed inside it. The distance between them is 12 cm. This plasma experiment works in a low-pressure range (0.15 - 0.70 Torr) for Ar gas with a maximum DC power supply of 200 W. The Paschen curves and electrical plasma parameters (current, volt, power, resistance) characterized to the plasma have been measured and calculated at each cm between the two electrodes. Besides, the electron temperature and ion density are obtained at different radial distances using a double Langmuir probe. The electron temperature (KTe) was kept stable in range 6.58 to 10.44 eV;whereas the ion density (ni) was in range from 0.91 × 1010 cm−3 to 1.79 × 1010 cm−3. A digital optical microscope (800×) was employed to draw a comparison between the pre-and after effect of exposure to plasma on the shaping of the circuit layout. The experimental results show that the electrical conductivity increased after plasma exposure, also an improvement in the adhesion force in the Cu foil surface. A significant increase in the conductivity can be directly related to the position of the sample surfaces as well as to the time of exposure. This shows the importance of the obtained results in developing the PCBs manufacturing that uses in different microelectronics devices like those onboard of space vehicles.

New measurements on hydrodynamics in a gas-liquid-solid expanded bed

The solid holdup,in a 150 mm-ID×2460 mm-height gas-liquid-solid expanded bed with air,water and glass beads(the diameter of particles is 0.6-0.8 mm)was firstly investigated based on the immersion-type online multiphase measuring instrument,and bubble behavior was studied via the BVW-2 double electrical conductivity probe.The effect of the superficial gas velocity and liquid velocity on the expanded ratio,the transition ratio,the bubble rising velocity,the gas holdup and the solid holdup was studied.It is discovered that compared with the gas velocity,the liquid velocity has stronger impact on the expanded ratio,but it is opposite for the transition ratio.The average gas holdup and solid holdup increase linearly as the superficial gas velocity goes up.Among it,the gas holdup increases greater in the center,while the solid holdup increases greater near the wall.Compared with it,when the superficial liquid velocity rises,the average gas holdup hardly changes,but the average solid holdup keeps decreasing,especially the solid holdup distributes flatter with the increase of the superficial liquid velocity.