Equilibrium potential profile across magnetic field in inhomogeneous electronegative plasma

TL;DR

This study investigates the plasma potential distribution across magnetic fields in an electronegative argon/oxygen plasma, revealing unusual trends with magnetic field strength and gas pressure, and proposes an analytical model to explain these profiles.

Contribution

It introduces an analytical model linking plasma potential to local plasma parameters in electronegative plasma under magnetic fields, expanding understanding of plasma behavior.

Findings

Radial plasma density and potential show unusual trends with magnetic field and pressure.

The analytical model accurately relates plasma potential to density, temperature, and electronegativity.

Plasma potential distribution resembles a Boltzmann relation under certain conditions.

Abstract

This paper presents the plasma potential distribution across magnetic field lines in an argon/oxygen plasma created by 13.56 MHz CCRF discharge consisting of a pair of ring electrodes. It is found that the radial plasma density, electron temperature, and plasma potential shows unusual trends as the magnetic field strength and gas pressure increase. An analytical model has been formulated to explain the radial plasma potential profile when the short-circuiting effect due to conducting boundaries can be neglected. It is found that with certain approximations, the plasma potential distribution can be very well related to the local plasma density, electron temperature, and bulk electronegativity similar to a Boltzmann relation.