Premium
Micro‐Particles as Electrostatic Probes for Plasma Sheath Diagnostics
Author(s) -
Wolter Matthias,
Haass Moritz,
Ockenga Taalke,
Blažek Josef,
Kersten Holger
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
plasma processes and polymers
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.644
H-Index - 74
eISSN - 1612-8869
pISSN - 1612-8850
DOI - 10.1002/ppap.200931603
Subject(s) - plasma , micrometer , radius , particle (ecology) , debye sheath , mechanics , materials science , position (finance) , dense plasma focus , atomic physics , plasma parameters , charged particle , physics , optics , ion , nuclear physics , oceanography , computer security , finance , quantum mechanics , computer science , economics , geology
In basic plasma physics and plasma technology, micro‐particles (dust grains) play an important role for the investigation and understanding of the behavior of different plasma species. It is well known that micrometer‐sized particles can find an equilibrium position if all acting forces to the particles are balanced. This stable point is a few millimeters above the powered electrode in the plasma sheath. In our experimental set‐up, we observed the position and the motion of microscopic test particles with a typical radius between 4.78 and 13.3 µm. In addition to the experiments, we also investigate the particle behavior by a numerical model. By comparison between the numerical model and the experimental observation, internal plasma parameters can be obtained.