Evolution of ion and electron energy distributions in pulsed helicon plasma discharges

G. D. Conway*, A. J. Perry, R. W. Boswell

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

71 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

The temporal evolutions of the ion and electron energy distributions of pulsed helicon diffusion plasmas are measured. High power (<1 kW) moderate length (10 ms pulses, 10% duty cycle) 13.56 MHz RF discharges show three distinct pulse phases: (a) breakdown (the first 250 μs), characterized by high electron temperatures (>8 eV) and high ion energies (>40 eV); (b) a mid-pulse phase, which is identical to CW operation, and (c) the termination and afterglow which displays a collapsing plasma potential, splitting in ion energy peaks and a transient hot electron component (>11 eV). The hot electrons in the breakdown and termination phases are characteristic of a capacitive antenna coupling mode, while high densities and low plasma potentials of the steady-state mid-pulse phase are characteristic of an inductive/helicon wave coupling mode.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)337-347
Number of pages11
JournalPlasma Sources Science and Technology
Volume7
Issue number3
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Aug 1998

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