Experimental observation has been carried out to see the effect of magnetic
field and grid biasing voltage in controlling the sheath thickness in a ma
gnetized plasma system. The experiment is carried out in a stainless steel
chamber which is divided into two regions by a mesh grid, via the source re
gion and the diffused region. The characteristic behavior of the ion rich s
heath formed across the grid under various conditions of the applied magnet
ic field and grid biasing voltage has been investigated experimentally. It
has been observed that at both conditions of increasing magnetic field and
grid biasing voltage, sheath width expands in the source region, whereas in
the diffused region, no such noticeable variation has been found. This stu
dy has been accompanied by the measurement of the electron temperature in b
oth regions of the chamber via the source region and the diffused region wi
th the help of the Langmuir probe. Plasma is produced in the source region
and it penetrates into the diffused region through the grid. It has been fo
und that the electron temperature decreases with increasing magnetic field
in the source region while kept at a constant grid biasing voltage. However
, in the diffused region the opposite variation has been observed. The vari
ation of electron temperature with grid biasing voltage in both regions is
not very significant. (C) 2001 American Institute of Physics.