[Table of Contents]

Plasma and Fusion Research

Volume 10, 3401037 (2015)

Regular Articles

Study on Magnetized RF Discharge with Very Small-Diameter
Toshiki NAKAGAWA, Yoshitake SATO, Eiko TANAKA, Hiraku IWAYA, Daisuke KUWAHARA and Shunjiro SHINOHARA
Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology, 2-24-16 Naka-Cho, Koganei, Tokyo 184-8588, Japan
(Received 1 December 2014 / Accepted 17 February 2015 / Published 26 May 2015)

Abstract

To investigate characteristics and estimate propulsion performance of a high-density radio frequency plasma with a very small diameter, we have developed the Small Helicon Device (SHD) and measured an electron density ne, an ion velocity vi and an emission intensity of Ar II under various conditions such as a discharge diameter (down to 3 mm), a mass flow rate and a gas species. Using quartz discharge tubes with inner diameter (i.d.) of 3, 10, 20 mm with an Ar gas, ne of (2.5 - 6) × 1012 (estimated from optical measurement), ∼2.5 ×1012 and ∼ 2.0 × 1012 cm−3, respectively, at −40 mm downstream from an excitation antenna was obtained. Using the 20 mm i.d. tube with a H2 gas, vi ∼ 40 km/s was achieved in the presence of the magnetic field gradient.

Keywords

helicon plasma, small helicon device, electron density, emission intensity, ion velocity

DOI: 10.1585/pfr.10.3401037

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This paper may be cited as follows:

Toshiki NAKAGAWA, Yoshitake SATO, Eiko TANAKA, Hiraku IWAYA, Daisuke KUWAHARA and Shunjiro SHINOHARA, Plasma Fusion Res. 10, 3401037 (2015).