Observation of Ω mode electron heating in dusty argon radio frequency discharges

Journal Article · Thu Aug 15 00:00:00 EDT 2013 · Physics of Plasmas

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4818442· OSTI ID:22220699

Killer, Carsten; Bandelow, Gunnar; Schneider, Ralf; Melzer, André ^[1]; Matyash, Konstantin ^[2]

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1. Institut für Physik, Ernst-Moritz-Arndt-Universität Greifswald, 17489 Greifswald (Germany)
2. Universitätsrechenzentrum, Ernst-Moritz-Arndt-Universität Greifswald, 17489 Greifswald (Germany)

The time-resolved emission of argon atoms in a dusty plasma has been measured with phase-resolved optical emission spectroscopy using an intensified charge-coupled device camera. For that purpose, three-dimensional dust clouds have been confined in a capacitively coupled rf argon discharge with the help of thermophoretic levitation. While electrons are exclusively heated by the expanding sheath (α mode) in the dust-free case, electron heating takes place in the entire plasma bulk when the discharge volume is filled with dust particles. Such a behavior is known as Ω mode, first observed in electronegative plasmas. Furthermore, particle-in-cell simulations have been carried out, which reproduce the trends of the experimental findings. These simulations support previous numerical models showing that the enhanced atomic emission in the plasma can be attributed to a bulk electric field, which is mainly caused by the reduced electrical conductivity due to electron depletion.

• OSTI ID: 22220699
• Journal Information: Physics of Plasmas, Vol. 20, Issue 8; Other Information: (c) 2013 AIP Publishing LLC; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 1070-664X
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS
GENERAL PHYSICS
46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
ARGON
ATOMS
CAMERAS
CHARGE-COUPLED DEVICES
DUSTS
ELECTRIC CONDUCTIVITY
ELECTRIC FIELDS
ELECTRONS
EMISSION SPECTROSCOPY
HEATING
HIGH-FREQUENCY DISCHARGES
IMAGES
NUMERICAL ANALYSIS
PLASMA DIAGNOSTICS
PLASMA SHEATH
PLASMA SIMULATION
RADIOWAVE RADIATION
SENSORS
TIME RESOLUTION