The ion transit effects on the sheath dynamics inthe intermediate radiofrequency regime: excitationsof ion-acoustic waves and solitons

The capacitively coupled plasma is investigated kinetically utilizing the particle- in-cell technique. The Argon (Ar) plasma is generated via two radio-frequencies. The plasma bulk density increases by increasing the voltage amplitude of the high frequency (≥ 13.56 MHz) which is much greater than the ion plasma frequency. The intermediate radio-frequencies ( ≈ 1 MHz) which are comparable to the ion plasma frequency causes a broadening of the ion energy distribution considerably, i.e., ions gain energies above and lower than the time-averaged energy. The good agreement between published experimental results and our theoretical calculations via the Ensemble- in-Spacetime model confirms the modulation of ions around time-averaged values. Intermediate frequencies allow ions to respond partially to the instantaneous electric field. The response of ions to the instantaneous electric field is investigated semi- analytically. The dispersion relation of the plasma sheath and bulk are derived. Stable ion acoustic modes are found. The ion-acoustic modes have two different velocities and carry energy from the sheath edge to the electrode. Also, intermediate frequencies excite solitons in the plasma sheath; the results may help to explain the ion density, flux, and energy modulation, and, consequently, the broadening of the ion energy distribution.

Automatically Controlled Frequency-Tunable rf Plasma Thruster: Ion Beam and Thrust Measurements

A fast and automatically controlled frequency-tunable radiofrequency (rf) system is installed in an rf plasma thruster consisting of a stepped-diameter insulator source tube wound by a single-turn loop antenna and a solenoid providing a magnetic nozzle, and immersed in vacuum. The frequency and the output power are controlled so as to minimize the reflection coefficient and to maintain the net power corresponding to the forward minus reflected powers at a constant level. The reproducibility of the impedance matching and the stability of the net rf power are assessed, showing the fast impedance matching within about 10 msec and the long and stable delivery of the rf power to the thruster. When increasing the rf power up to 500 W, discontinuous changes in the source plasma density, the imparted thrust, and the signal intensity of the ion beam downstream of the thruster are observed, indicating effects of the discharge mode on the thruster performance and the ion energy distribution.

Adsorption and Recovery using Vaporization of Liquid Fluorocarbon Precursor

PFC gas is primarily used during the etching process in the manufacture of ULSIs and in cleaning after CVD processes. PFC is classified as a greenhouse gas that stays in the atmosphere for a long time and has a high GWP. High capacity and high integration have been achieved in recent years as semiconductor device structures have been replaced by vertical layer structures, and the consumption of PFC gas has exploded due to the increase in high aspect ratio and patterning processes. Therefore, many researchers have been working on methods to decompose, recover, and reuse the gas after the etching process to reduce the emissions of PFC gas. In this study, etching and recovery processes were performed using C5F8 in L-FC which is in liquid phase at room temperature. Among the L-FCs, C5F8 gas has a high C/F ratio, similar to that of the C4F8 gas, which is a conventional PFC gas. In addition, to confirm its reusability, the recovered C5F8 was injected back into the chamber, and the electron temperature, plasma density, and ion energy distribution were analyzed. Based on these experimental data, the reliability of the etch processes performed with recovered C5F8 gas was evaluated, and the possibility of reusing the recovered C5F8 gas was confirmed.

Far-Field Plume Characterization of a 100-W Class Hall Thruster

The 100 W-class ISCT100-v2 Hall Thruster (HT) has been characterized in terms of far-field plume properties. By means of a Faraday Cup and a Retarding Potential Analyzer, both the ion current density and the ion energy distribution function have been measured over a 180 ∘ circular arc for different operating points. Measurements are compared to far-field plume characterizations performed with higher power Hall thrusters. The ion current density profiles remain unchanged whatever the HT input power, although an asymptotic limit is observed in the core of the plume at high discharge voltages and anode mass flow rates. In like manner, the ion energy distribution functions reveal that most of the beam energy is concentrated in the core of the plume [ − 40 ∘ ; 40 ∘ ] . Moreover, the fraction of low energy ion populations increases at large angles, owing to charge exchange and elastic collisions. Distinct plume regions are identified; they remain similar to the one described for high-power HTs. An efficiency analysis is also performed in terms of current utilization, mass utilization, and voltage utilization. The anode efficiency appears to be essentially affected by a low voltage utilization, the latter originating from the large surface-to-volume ratio inherent to low-power HTs. Experimental results also show that the background pressure clearly affects the plume structure and content.

Dust impact detections by a set of Faraday cups in the lunar environments

<p>The Bright Monitor of the Solar Wind (BMSW) for the Luna-Resurs-1 mission is an instrument designed for high-time (30 ms) resolution measurements of moments of the ion energy distribution by Faraday cups in the solar wind and in a plasma environment at altitudes between 65 and 150 km above the lunar surface. Previous studies performed by a similar instrument located on-board the Spektr-R spacecraft demonstrated a possibility to detect hypervelocity impacts of dust grains by such instruments Our analysis shows that the main problem of the reliable detection of dust impacts using such types of instruments is their sampling rate. In the paper, we present a novel design of a set of FCs that improves the ability of the dust detection using a simple identification algorithm that can store data with a higher sampling rate around the impact pulse. Moreover, we discuss a calibration of the detectors and their front-end electronics using the dust accelerator in order to find a relation between impact parameters and pulse heights.</p>