DETERMINATION OF NEGATIVE-ION AND ELECTRON PARAMETERS IN AN AR SF6 PLASMA/

A new method for evaluating negative ion and electron parameters from the current-voltage characteristics of electric probes is presented. A theoretical model and its related numerical procedures are establishe d and errors included are estimated. Temperatures and densities of neg ative ions and electrons in a magnetic multipolar-confined plasma of A r and Ar/SF6 mixtures are determined with allowable errors for various density ratios of the negative ion to the electron. (C) 1998 American Institute of Physics. [S0021-8979(98)01417-0].