Y. Okuno et al., ELECTRON ACCELERATION RESONANT WITH SHEATH MOTION IN A LOW-PRESSURE RADIO-FREQUENCY DISCHARGE, Applied physics letters, 64(13), 1994, pp. 1623-1625
A new electron acceleration method in low-pressure radio-frequency (rf
) discharges, leading to high density plasmas, is proposed. Electrons
are resonantly accelerated by multiple interactions with a moving rf s
heath under a specific magnetic flux density which satisfies the condi
tion that twice the electron cyclotron frequency is equal to the rf dr
iving frequency. Experimental evidence is presented. This technique mi
ght be useful for the generation of low-pressure high density rf plasm
as.