Measurements of plasma potential in high-pressure microwave plasmas

Plasma potential of a high-pressure ( approximately 1 Torr) microwave-generated argon plasma is measured using a Langmuir probe and a cold emissive probe. The operation of a hot emissive probe in a high-pressure plasma has been very difficult due to frequent burn-outs and significantly reduced lifetime of the probe filament, which, in turn, limits the possibility of collecting a wide range of data. The I-V characteristics from both Langmuir and emissive probes are interpreted using the collisionless probe theory since the collision correction factor is not very significant. The plasma potential determined from both Langmuir and cold emissive probe characteristics agrees well with one another and is observed to be dependent on the operating gas pressure but relatively unchanged as a function of the microwave power. An average plasma potential determined over the operating range of microwave powers varies nonlinearly with the gas pressure.