Field emission and lifetime of microcavity plasma
- Department of Electronic and Electrical Engineering, Pohang University of Science and Technology, Pohang 790-784 (Korea, Republic of)
- Department of Electronic and Electrical Engineering, Loughborough University, Leicestershire LE11-3TU (United Kingdom)
Microplasmas with cylindrical hollow cathode have been studied by means of two-dimensional particle-in-cell/Monte-Carlo collision (PIC/MCC) simulations. For a given input power, the onset of field emission from the cathode surface caused by the strong electric field generated in these discharges leads to a reduction of the discharge voltage and an increase in plasma density. The plasma density profile can be strongly influenced by localized enhancements of the electric field, which in turn will affect the erosion profile of the cathode. The cathode erosion profile is predicted in this work by combining the ion kinetic information obtained from the PIC/MCC simulation with the sputtering yield computed using SRIM [J. F. Ziegler, J. P. Biersack, and M. D. Ziegler, SRIM: The Stopping and Range of Ions in Matter (Lulu, Chester, 2008)]. The entrance of the cathode and the center region are the areas most susceptible to ion-induced damage. The lifetime of the device, however, can be extended by operating the device at high pressure and by reducing the operating voltage by means of field emission and/or additional electron emitting processes from the cathode.
- OSTI ID:
- 21272476
- Journal Information:
- Physics of Plasmas, Vol. 16, Issue 1; Other Information: DOI: 10.1063/1.3068745; (c) 2009 American Institute of Physics; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 1070-664X
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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