SHEET-SHAPED PLASMA PRODUCED BY ELECTRON-CYCLOTRON-RESONANCE HEATING

A new production technique of sheet-shaped plasma by means of electron cyclotron resonance heating (ECRH) is proposed. The sheet plasma is p roduced in a vessel with rectangular cross section set in a rectangula r magnetic field coil. The maximum density and electron temperature of the sheet plasma are about 2.6 x 10(11) cm-3 and 7 eV, respectively, in a typical argon gas pressure of P0 = 5 X 10(-4) Torr. The sheet pla sma has several peaks of the density profile across the plasma width. These modes appear according to the change of working gas pressure. Th ose parameters including plasma density, density profile, and ion ener gy are controllable. This plasma is expected to be useful for material processing or plasma-based high-energy particle accelerators.