Attenuation of a surface wave in an unmagnetized RF plasma column

Travelling-wave-sustained discharges

“…The diagnostics of the SWSDs started with the remarkable work by Zakrzewski et al [121] which shows welladvanced experimental arrangements of different techniques and establishes new-specific for SWSDs-methods of plasma diagnostics based on the discharge self-consistency. These are the so-called "radiophysics" methods [13,15].…”

“…They involve measurements of the wave characteristics (wavenumber and its variation along the discharge length) for determination of the plasma parameters (plasma density and its axial profile) by using knowledge for the wave dispersion properties. The interferogram method and the field radial decay method are the radiophysics methods [4,65,76,[121][122][123][124][125][126][127][128] first invented, the former-the interferogram method-has been very widely used in the diagnostics of the SWSDs. A lot of results [4,5,65,76,[121][122][123][124][125][126][127][128] have been accumulated, by using this method, for the axial density profile-the most remarkable characteristic of the SWSDs, which is a consequence of the self-consistent interdependence between the parameters of the guided wave and of the generated plasma.…”

“…These are the so-called "radiophysics" methods [4,5,13,15,65,76,[121][122][123][124][125][126][127][128] which provide results for plasma characteristics from measurements of the wave propagation properties. Among these methods, the interferogram method has been widely used for accumulating results for the axial profiles of plasma densityn(z).…”

“…Among these methods, the interferogram method has been widely used for accumulating results for the axial profiles of plasma densityn(z). In its original form [4,5,13,15,76,[121][122][123][124][125][126][127][128] the method combines measurements of the axial variation of the wavenumber with use of the wave dispersion law in radially homogeneous collisionless plasmas.…”

Experimental investigation of surface wave propagation in collisional plasma columns

“…[4][5][6][7][8][9] On considering the literature, one can note that the theoretical modeling of surface wave propagation is well developed in the limits of the collisionless approach (ӷ eff , and eff being the wave angular frequency and the effective collision frequency for momentum transfer͒. 4,5,8,10,11 There have been numerous investigations either assuming a radially homogeneous electron density distribution or including a radial density profile. 4,5,[8][9][10]12 The collisional effects on wave propagation have been considered mainly with respect to discharges operating at atmospheric or intermediate pressures, i.e., for strongly collisional plasmas ( eff /Ͼ1).…”