QUASI-STATIC PLASMA SOURCES - PHYSICAL PRINCIPLES, MODELING EXPERIMENTS, APPLICATION ASPECTS

Magnetic field enhanced rf plasma sources excited by frame-type antenn as (quasistatic plasma sources) are treated theoretically and experime ntally. The theoretical model predicts that a significant part of the rf power is absorbed in a source plasma via the excitation of quasi-el ectrostatic waves. The dependences of absorption on plasma density, ex ternal magnetic field, driving frequency, and source dimensions (scali ng laws) are obtained. Special experiments on low-power rf signal abso rption in a preformed dense plasma corroborate well the theory. Result s of test experiments with different sources have shown that a behavio ur of the discharge in quasistatic sources is in good agreement with t heoretical predictions. Using this knowledge, a compact low-power ion source was designed and optimized. Detailed testing of its parameters has shown that this device has good prospects for use as an ion thrust er, and for various materials processing applications.