Influence of discharge conditions on dynamics of plasma parameters in a double plasma device

Pragya Joshi and Debaprasad Sahu
Department of Energy Science and Engineering,
Indian Institute of Technology Delhi, Hauz Khas, New Delhi – 110 016, India
Dedicated to Prof P K Kaw

Double plasma devices are known to produce uniform and quiescent plasma which makes it very convenient to study phenomena on basic plasma physics. The device is also used to produce a well-controlled plasma and ion beams with a simple DC discharge mechanism. Enhancing the control of plasma contributes to the improvement of material processing and advancement of plasma techniques. In this work, a steady state Argon discharge was studied through a series of experiments in a double plasma device to investigate the influence of different parameters, e.g. discharge voltage, chamber pressures, source chamber bias etc. on the plasma parameters measured across the device. It was observed that by changing the discharge voltage, plasma density inside the source chamber could be controlled without affecting the electron temperature, while outside the source chamber, the electron temperature could be controlled without affecting the plasma density. The overall plasma density enhanced significantly when the gas pressure was increased. The plasma potential was relatively unaffected by the variation in discharge voltage and gas pressure, but changes significantly when the source chamber was grounded from the floating condition. Manipulating the plasma potential can help to control the ion bombardment energy, while a controlled electron temperature is always desirable in many plasma-based material applications. It was also observed that under the grounded source chamber configuration, a low quiescence level ((δI_is / I_is) < 0.5%) could be maintained in the plasma compared to the floating source configuration. © Anita Publications. All rights reserved.
Doi: 10.54955/AJP.34.3-4.2025.179-186
Keywords: Hot filament DC discharge, Discharge voltage, Plasma parameters, Double Plasma Device.

Peer Review Information
Method: Single- anonymous; Screened for Plagiarism? Yes
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