Uniform plasma generation with filament assisted DC discharge in a linear plasma device

Abstract

Uniform and quiescent (δ n/n < 0.5%) laboratory plasma has been produced in a linear plasma device with a simple filament-assisted DC source without using any magnetic field for plasma confinement. A filament-assisted DC plasma source has been designed, fabricated in-house, and operated successfully to achieve the desired plasma parameters. A stainless steel(ss)-grid is placed in-front of the filament assembly and biased appropriately using a DC-regulated power supply to accelerate thermionically emitted electrons from the heated filaments along the length of the main chamber and facilitate the production of uniform plasma. Heating of the filaments was done by passing a current of ∼3.8 − 4.2 A through it using another DC-regulated power supply. 2-dimensional spatial profiles of plasma density (n e ), electron temperature (T e ) and plasma potential (V P ) obtained from the Langmuir Probe measurements by inserting 4 number of Langmuir Probes inside the plasma from 4 co-linear radial ports of the plasma chamber and scanning them radially with the help of indigenously built probe drive setups reveal spatially uniform plasma generation with n e in the range ∼(1 − 2) × 1015 m−3 and T e ∼ (2.5 − 3.5) eV. Variations of plasma parameters and its spatial uniformity with neutral pressure are also investigated. It is observed that the spatial uniformity of the plasma produced at neutral pressures in the range of ∼(3 − 6) × 10−4 mbar is very good with δ n/n < 0.5%.