Electron heating and density production in microwave-assisted helicon plasmas

M. Umair Siddiqui, John S. McKee, Julianne McIlvain, Zachary D. Short, Drew B. Elliott, Greg Lusk, Earl E. Scime

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

4 Scopus citations

Abstract

Microwaves are injected into argon and helium helicon plasmas at 6 to 20 mTorr neutral pressure, 1.2 kW pulsed microwave power, up to 500 W continuous RF power, and up to 1 kG magnetic fields, with the objective of heating the tail of the electron energy distribution function (EEDF) and populating ion metastable states. Langmuir probes are used to measure the EEDF and optical emission spectroscopy is used to monitor ion emission. The injection of microwave power in argon helicon plasmas is shown to heat the high energy tail of the EEDF without increasing the plasma density. Argon ion emission is shown to increase by a factor of 4. Injection of microwaves into a helium helicon plasma is shown to cool the bulk of the of the EEDF and increase the plasma density. Previously absent helium ion emission lines are observed with the injection of microwaves. All the microwave results are shown to be independent of RF power within the limits of the system.

Original languageEnglish
Article number034016
JournalPlasma Sources Science and Technology
Volume24
Issue number3
DOIs
StatePublished - May 1 2015
Externally publishedYes

Funding

FundersFunder number
National Science FoundationPHY-1360278
National Science Foundation1360278

    Keywords

    • Electron heating
    • Helicon
    • Microwave

    Fingerprint

    Dive into the research topics of 'Electron heating and density production in microwave-assisted helicon plasmas'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

    Cite this