Cascaded Arc Plasma Source

The cascaded arc is a wall-stabilized thermal electric arc discharge that produces a high density, low temperature plasma.

Cascaded Arc Plasma Source

General

The cascaded arc source, developed at the Eindhoven University of Technology,^[1][2] is shown in the figure below. Compared to plasma sources in other linear plasma generators, this source can produce high-density argon and hydrogen plasmas (respectively m and m) at a relatively low electron temperature (~1 eV). Due to the high collision frequency of the particles in the source, the plasma is in thermal equilibrium and reasonably homogeneous.

The cascaded arc consists of a gas inlet, three tungsten cathodes, cascaded plates, a nozzle and an anode. Via the gas inlet, the working gas -argon or hydrogen- can flow into the cathode chamber. The source is typically running at 0.5 - 3.0 slm (1 Standard Liter Per Minute = 4.4 · particles per second) and a discharge current of 100-300 A. The cascaded plates in between the cathode and anode are electrically insulated from each other by 1 mm thick Boron nitride plates. The voltage of these plates is the floating potential. Both nozzle and anode are grounded.

See also

• plasma source
• List of plasma (physics) articles
• Plasma window

External links

• A Glow Discharge Unit
• HIGH BRIGHTNESS H- SURFACE PLASMA SOURCES
• H- production in pure hydrogen discharges of surface-plasma sources

References

1. ↑ G.M.W. Kroesen, D.C. Schram, and J.C.M. de Haas, Plasma Chemistry and Plasma Processing, 10(4):531–551, 1990.
2. ↑ M.C.M. van de Sanden, G.J.H. Brussaard, W.M.M. Kessels, A. de Graaf, M.F.A.M. van Hest, K.G.Y. Letourneur and D.C. Schram