Sheath structure transition controlled by secondary electron emission

Abstract

In particle-in-cell Monte Carlo collision (PIC MCC) simulations and in an experiment we study sheath formation over an emissive floating Al2O3 plate in a direct current discharge plasma at argon gas pressure 10−4 Torr. The discharge glow is maintained by the beam electrons emitted from a negatively biased hot cathode. We observe three types of sheaths near the floating emissive plate and the transition between them is driven by changing the negative bias. The Debye sheath appears at lower voltages, when secondary electron emission is negligible. With increasing applied voltage, secondary electron emission switches on and a first transition to a new sheath type, beam electron emission (BEE), takes place. For the first time we find this specific regime of sheath operation near the floating emissive surface. In this regime, the potential drop over the plate sheath is about four times larger than the temperature of plasma electrons. The virtual cathode appears near the emissive plate and its modification helps to maintain the BEE regime within some voltage range. Further increase of the applied voltage U initiates the second smooth transition to the plasma electron emission sheath regime and the ratio Δφs/Te tends to unity with increasing U. The oscillatory behavior of the emissive sheath is analyzed in PIC MCC simulations. A plasmoid of slow electrons is formed near the plate and transported to the bulk plasma periodically with a frequency of about 25 kHz.