Experimental Measurement of Overlapped Sheaths

Abstract

Due to the complicated environment of the plasma sheath, it is difficult to experimentally measure plasma characteristics in the narrow geometry where sheaths from opposite boundaries overlap. Since such geometries are often found in industrial plasma applications, accurate measurements of this type are of significant interests. In this paper, we employ micron-sized dust grains as non-perturbative probes of the plasma environment. A particle-freefall technique is then used to measure the sheath profiles produced by a rf plasma within a glass box. The results show that this technique can identify the plasma operating conditions for which the sheaths on opposite walls begin to overlap as well as the magnitude of the effect.