Low-pressure diffusion equilibrium of electronegative complex plasmas.

Abstract

A self-consistent fluid theory of complex electronegative colloidal plasmas in parallel-plate low-pressure discharge is presented. The self-organized low-pressure diffusion equilibrium is maintained through sources and sinks of electrons, positive and negative ions, in plasmas containing dust grains. It is shown that the colloidal dust grain subsystem strongly affects the stationary state of the discharge by dynamically modifying the electron temperature and particle creation and loss processes. The model accounts for ionization, ambipolar diffusion, electron and ion collection by the dusts, electron attachment, positive-ion-negative-ion recombination, and relevant elastic and inelastic collisions. The spatial profiles of electron and positive-ion-negative-ion number densities, electron temperature, and dust charge in electronegative SiH4 discharges are obtained for different grain size, input power, neutral gas pressure, and rates of negative-ion creation and loss.