Broadband microwave characteristics of a novel coaxial gridded hollow cathode argon plasma

Journal Article · Mon Aug 15 04:00:00 EDT 2016 · Review of Scientific Instruments

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4960393· OSTI ID:22597681

Gao, Ruilin; Yuan, Chengxun; Jia, Jieshu; Zhou, Zhong-Xiang; Wang, Ying; Wang, Xiaoou ^[1]; Li, Hui ^[1]; Wu, Jian ^[2]

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1. Department of Physics, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin 150001 (China)
2. National Key Laboratory of Electromagnetic Environment (LEME), China Research Institute of Radio Wave Propagation, Beijing 102206 (China)

The interaction between microwave and large area plasma is crucially important for space communication. Gas pressure, input power, and plasma volume are critical to both the microwave electromagnetic wave phase shift and electron density. This paper presents a novel type of large coaxial gridded hollow cathode plasma having a 50 cm diameter and a 40 cm thickness. Microwave characteristics are studied using a microwave measurement system that includes two broadband antennae in the range from 2 GHz to 18 GHz. The phase shift under varying gas pressure and input power is shown. In addition, the electron density n{sub e}, which varies from 1.2 × 10{sup 16} m{sup −3} to 8.7 × 10{sup 16} m{sup −3} under different discharge conditions, is diagnosed by the microwave system. The measured results accord well with those acquired by Langmuir Probe measurement and show that the microwave properties in the large volume hollow cathode discharge significantly depend on the input power and gas pressure.

• OSTI ID: 22597681
• Journal Information: Review of Scientific Instruments, Journal Name: Review of Scientific Instruments Journal Issue: 8 Vol. 87; ISSN 0034-6748; ISSN RSINAK
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS
SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND SUPERFLUIDITY
ANTENNAS
ARGON
DIAGNOSIS
ELECTRON DENSITY
ELECTRONS
GHZ RANGE 01-100
HOLLOW CATHODES
LANGMUIR PROBE
MICROWAVE RADIATION
PHASE SHIFT
PLASMA
THICKNESS