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Dynamics of a collisional, capacitive RF sheath

Journal Article · · IEEE Trans. Plasma Sci.; (United States)
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1109/27.24645· OSTI ID:6008039

A self-consistent solution for the dynamics of a high-voltage, capacitive RF sheath driven by a sinusoidal current source is obtained, under the assumptions of time-independent, collisional ion motion and inertialess electrons. The results are that the ion current density is 1.68epsilon/sub o/(2e/M)/sup 1/2/V-bar/sup 3/2/lambda/sub i//sup 1/2//s/sup 5/2//sub m/, where V-bar is the dc self-bias voltage, lambda/sub i/ is the ion mean free path, s/sub m/ is the sheath thickness, e/M is the ion charge-to-mass ratio, and epsilon/sub o/ is the free-space permittivity, the sheath capacitance per unit area for the fundamental voltage harmonic is 1.52epsilon/sub o//s/sub m/, the ratio of the dc to the peak value of the oscillating voltage is 0.40, the second and third voltage harmonics are, respectively, 19.3 and 5.3 percent of the fundamental, and the conductance per unit area for stochastic heating by the oscillating sheath is 2.17(e/sup 2/n/sub o//m..mu../sub e/)lambda/sup 2/3//sub D//lambda/sub i/s/sub m//sup 1/3/, where n/sub o/ is the ion density and lambda/sub D/ is the Debye length at the plasma-sheath edge, and ..mu../sub e/ = (8eT/sub e//..pi..m)/sup 1/2/ is the mean electron speed.

Research Organization:
Univ. of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA (US)
OSTI ID:
6008039
Journal Information:
IEEE Trans. Plasma Sci.; (United States), Journal Name: IEEE Trans. Plasma Sci.; (United States) Vol. 17:2; ISSN ITPSB
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English