Measurement of inverted n-hexane fireball properties with a Multipole Resonance Probe

Abstract

In this paper we present for the first time the measurement of inverted fireballs in a low-pressure Ar/n-hexane plasma by using a Multipole Resonance Probe. The basic plasma parameters such as electron density, electron temperature and Debye length as well as the particle collision frequency have been obtained for different experimental settings. These measurements show that inverted fireballs that are created in chemically active plasma offer advantageous properties regarding deposition techniques. Furthermore, the influence of the plasma parameters on grid bias and changes in neutral gas pressure has been studied within this work. It is observed that the plasma density within an inverted fireball configuration can be raised by more than an order of magnitude compared to the background plasma or without biasing the grid electrode, respectively.