Abstract

Ion and electron fluxes have been measured at the target electrode of an inverted radio-frequency (rf) diode discharge. The retarding-field analyzer uses a single suppressor electrode to select the charged particle polarity, and errors due to secondary particle generation have been minimized. The error sources in this apparatus are described, together with ways of avoiding them. This analyzer permits accurate determination of the directed particle flux with sampling aperture sizes ranging from 30 to 400 μm diameter. Examples of particle fluxes and energy distributions in both rf and direct current (dc) discharges are given, and it is shown that rf discharges have greater ion and electron fluxes at the target, and higher ion energies, than do comparable dc discharges.

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