A dc plasma source for plasma-material interaction experiments

作者：Matlock T S^*; Goebel D M; Conversano R; Wirz R E

来源：Plasma Sources Science and Technology, 2014, 23(2): 025014.

DOI：10.1088/0963-0252/23/2/025014

• plasma interactions
• sputtering
• sputter deposition
• molybdenum

A new device has been constructed for the investigation of interactions between engineered materials and a plasma in regimes relevant to electric propulsion and pulsed power devices. A linear plasma source, consisting of a hollow cathode, cylindrical anode, and axial magnetic field, delivers a 3 cm diameter beam to a biased target 70 cm away. The ion energy impacting the surface is controlled by biasing the sample from 0 to 500V below the local plasma potential. This paper discusses the major aspects of the plasma source design and presents measurements of the plasma parameters achieved to date on argon and xenon. Experiments show that splitting the gas injection between the hollow cathode and the anode region provides control of the discharge voltage to minimize cathode sputtering while providing ion fluxes to the target in excess of 10(21) m(-2) s(-1). Sputtering rate measurements on a non-textured molybdenum sample show close agreement with those established in the literature.

• 出版日期2014-4