Sheerin, Peter E. (2009) Development of planar langmuir probes for supersonic plasma flows. PhD thesis, Dublin City University.
Abstract
Langmuir probes are a long established tool for the investigation and char-
acterization of plasmas. Diagnostic use of planar Langmuir probes in sta-
tionary low temperature plasmas is a well understood and long established
technique. When the plasma possesses a drift velocity greater than the ion
sound speed the flow is considered to be supersonic. Under such conditions
the theory for Langmuir probes is less than satisfactory. Where the flow is
supersonic the Mach probe theory of Hudis and Lidsky [1] can be applied for
a magnetized plasma. However in the case of an unmagnetized plasma there
is no satisfactory theory. It has been observed that in orientating a planar
Langmuir probe parallel to the direction of flow, the ion current due to the
flow is eliminated. Under such conditions the behaviour of the plasma’s in-
teraction with the probe bears close resemblance to the conditions seen in
plasma immersion ion implantation (PIII).
This thesis describes the adaptation’s made to PIII analytical model’s to
take advantage of these similarities and its use to then describe the ion current
of planar Langmuir probes in unmagnetized plasmas possessing a supersonic
flow. In adapting a suitable analytical model for planar Langmuir probes
under such conditions, extensive use of both 1D and 2D hybrid particle in
cell (PIC) simulations have been made. Additionally the work required the
development of a 2D hybrid PIC code where the probe is embedded within
the grid. This allowed the investigation of the impact of edge effects on the
analytical model’s performance. The theory for and structure of the 2D code
is also presented as part of this work.
Three different probe orientations are considered, firstly the parallel case,
the other two concerns the near parallel cases of the probe surface orientated
both into and away from the direction of flow. The model’s performance
under these conditions is evaluated and discussed. Finally the use of this
model in allowing a planar Langmuir probe to act as a Mach probe is also
considered.
In testing the success of the analytical model against experimental data,
comparisons are made between the models results and those of the 2D hybrid
PIC. The experimental results used for this work were for xenon plasma with
a range of moderately supersonic velocities and a highly supersonic silver laser
ablated plasma plume.
Metadata
Item Type: | Thesis (PhD) |
---|---|
Date of Award: | March 2009 |
Refereed: | No |
Supervisor(s): | Turner, Miles M. |
Subjects: | Physical Sciences > Plasma processing |
DCU Faculties and Centres: | DCU Faculties and Schools > Faculty of Science and Health > School of Physical Sciences |
Use License: | This item is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License. View License |
Funders: | Enterprise Ireland |
ID Code: | 2365 |
Deposited On: | 06 Apr 2009 11:18 by Miles Turner . Last Modified 19 Jul 2018 14:43 |
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