skip to main content
OSTI.GOV title logo U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Title: Modeling of and experiments on dust particle levitation in the sheath of a radio frequency plasma reactor

Journal Article · · Journal of Applied Physics
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.1852696· OSTI ID:20668192
; ; ; ;  [1]
  1. Department of Chemical Engineering, Faculty of Industrial Technology, Sepuluh Nopember Institute of Technology (ITS), Kampus ITS Sukolilo, Surabaya 60111 (Indonesia)

The equilibrium and trapping of dust particles in a plasma sheath are investigated, both experimentally and theoretically. A self-consistent sheath model including input power as one of the model parameters is proposed, to predict the equilibrium position of particle trap. The electron temperature and density are estimated from the observed current and power (I-P) characteristics using the sheath model developed. Direct comparisons are made between the measured equilibrium position and the predicted equilibrium position. The equilibrium position moves closer to the electrode with increasing rf power and particle size. The position is apparently related to the sheath thickness, which decreases with increasing rf power. The model can correctly predict the experimentally observed trend in the equilibrium position of particle trap. It is found that the particle charge becomes positive when the particle gets closer to the electrode, due to the dominant influence of ion currents to the particle surface.

OSTI ID:
20668192
Journal Information:
Journal of Applied Physics, Vol. 97, Issue 4; Other Information: DOI: 10.1063/1.1852696; (c) 2005 American Institute of Physics; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0021-8979
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English