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Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

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At least 721 records · Page 40
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2014

Collisionless electron heating in periodic arrays of inductively coupled plasmas

A novel mechanism of collisionless heating in large planar arrays of small inductive coils operated at radio frequencies is presented. In contrast to the well-known case of non-local heating related to the transversal conductivity, when the electrons move perpendicular to the planar coil, we investigate the problem of electrons moving in a plane parallel to the coils. Two types of periodic structures are studied. Resonance velocities where heating is efficient are calculated analytically by solving the Vlasov equation. Certain scaling parameters are identified. The concept is further investigated by a single particle simulation based on the ergodic principle and combined with a Monte Carlo code allowing for collisions with Argon atoms. Resonances, energy exchange, and distribution functions are obtained. The analytical results are confirmed by the numerical simulation. Pressure and electric field dependences are studied. Stochastic heating is found to be most efficient when the electron mean free path exceeds the size of a single coil cell. Then the mean energy increases approximately exponentially with the electric field amplitude.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2015

Effect of the electron energy distribution on total energy loss with argon in inductively coupled plasmas

The total energy lost per electron-ion pair lost ε{sub T} is investigated with the electron energy distribution function (EEDF). The EEDFs are measured at various argon powers in RF inductively coupled plasma, and the EEDFs show a depleted distribution (a discontinuity occurring at the minimum argon excitation threshold energy level) with the bulk temperature and the tail temperature. The total energy loss per electron-ion pair lost ε{sub T} is calculated from a power balance model with the Maxwellian EEDFs and the depleted EEDFs and then compared with the measured ε{sub T} from the floating probe. It is concluded that the small population of the depleted high energy electrons dramatically increases the collisional energy loss, and the calculated ε{sub T} from the depleted EEDFs has a value that is similar to the measured ε{sub T}.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2015

Global model analysis of negative ion generation in low-pressure inductively coupled hydrogen plasmas with bi-Maxwellian electron energy distributions

A global model was developed to investigate the densities of negative ions and the other species in a low-pressure inductively coupled hydrogen plasma with a bi-Maxwellian electron energy distribution. Compared to a Maxwellian plasma, bi-Maxwellian plasmas have higher populations of low-energy electrons and highly vibrationally excited hydrogen molecules that are generated efficiently by high-energy electrons. This leads to a higher reaction rate of the dissociative electron attachment responsible for negative ion production. The model indicated that the bi-Maxwellian electron energy distribution at low pressures is favorable for the creation of negative ions. In addition, the electron temperature, electron density, and negative ion density calculated using the model were compared with the experimental data. In the low-pressure regime, the model results of the bi-Maxwellian electron energy distributions agreed well quantitatively with the experimental measurements, unlike those of the assumed Maxwellian electron energy distributions that had discrepancies.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2015

Measurement of neutral gas temperature in a 13.56 MHz inductively coupled plasma

Measuring the temperature of neutrals in inductively coupled plasmas (ICP) is important as heating of neutral particles will influence plasma characteristics such as the spatial distributions of plasma density and electron temperature. Neutral gas temperatures were deduced using a non-invasive technique that combines gas actinometry, optical emission spectroscopy and simulation which is described here. Argon gas temperature in a 13.56 MHz ICP were found to fall within the range of 500 − 800 K for input power of 140 − 200 W and pressure of 0.05 − 0.2 mbar. Comparing spectrometers with 0.2 nm and 0.5 nm resolution, improved fitting sensitivity was observed for the 0.2 nm resolution.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2015

Relationship between the discharge mode and the spatial oxygen plasma distribution in a large size ferrite inductively coupled plasmas

The electrical characteristics and the spatial distribution of oxygen plasma according to the number of turns in ferrite inductively coupled plasmas (ferrite ICPs) are investigated. Through a new ICP model, which includes the capacitive coupling and the power loss of the ferrite material with the conventional ICP model, the variation of the oxygen discharge characteristics depending on the number of turns is simply understood by the electrical measurement, such as the antenna voltages and the currents. As the number of the turns increases, the capacitive coupling dominantly affects the spatial plasma distribution. This capacitive coupling results in a center focused density profile along the radial direction. In spite of the same discharge conditions (discharge chamber, neutral gas, and pressure), the spatial plasma distribution over 450 mm has drastic changes by increasing number of the turns. In addition, the effect of the negative species to the density profile is compared with the argon discharge characteristics at the same discharge configuration.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2015

Electromagnetic wave attenuation measurements in a ring-shaped inductively coupled air plasma

An aerocraft with the surface, inlet and radome covered large-area inductive coupled plasma (ICP) can attenuate its radar echo effectively. The shape, thickness, and electron density (N{sub e}) distribution of ICP are critical to electromagnetic wave attenuation. In the paper, an air all-quartz ICP generator in size of 20 × 20 × 7 cm{sup 3} without magnetic confinement is designed. The discharge results show that the ICP is amorphous in E-mode and ring-shaped in H-mode. The structure of ICP stratifies into core region and edge halo in H-mode, and its width and thickness changes from power and pressure. Such phenomena are explained by the distribution of RF magnetic field, the diffusion of negative ions plasma and the variation of skin depth. In addition, the theoretical analysis shows that the N{sub e} achieves nearly uniform within the electronegative core and sharply steepens in the edge. The N{sub e} of core region is diagnosed by microwave interferometer under varied conditions (pressure in range of 10–50 Pa, power in 300–700 W). Furthermore, the electromagnetic wave attenuation measurements were carried out with the air ICP in the frequencies of 4–5 GHz. The results show that the interspaced ICP is still effective to wave attenuation, and the wave attenuation increases with the power and pressure. The measured attenuation is approximately in accordance with the calculation data of finite-different time-domain simulations.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2015

Modulations of the plasma uniformity by low frequency sources in a large-area dual frequency inductively coupled plasma based on fluid simulations

As the wafer size increases, dual frequency (DF) inductively coupled plasma (ICP) sources have been proposed as an effective method to achieve large-area uniform plasma processing. A two-dimensional (2D) self-consistent fluid model, combined with an electromagnetic module, has been employed to investigate the influence of the low frequency (LF) source on the plasma radial uniformity in an argon DF discharge. When the DF antenna current is fixed at 10 A, the bulk plasma density decreases significantly with the LF due to the less efficient heating, and the best radial uniformity is obtained at 3.39 MHz. As the LF decreases to 2.26 MHz, the plasma density is characterized by an edge-high profile, and meanwhile the maximum of the electron temperature appears below the outer two-turn coil. Moreover, the axial ion flux at 3.39 MHz is rather uniform in the center region except at the radial edge of the substrate, where a higher ion flux is observed. When the inner five-turn coil frequency is fixed at 2.26 MHz, the plasma density profiles shift from edge-high over uniform to center-high as the LF coil current increases from 6 A to 18 A, and the best plasma uniformity is obtained at 14 A. In addition, the maximum of the electron temperature becomes lower with a second peak appears at the radial position of r = 9 cm at 18 A.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2015

Characteristics of anomalous skin effect and evolution of power absorption regions in a cylindrical radio frequency inductively coupled plasma

In a low-pressure radio-frequency (13.56 MHz), inductively coupled argon plasma generated by a normal cylindrical rf coil, electric field, current density, and absorbed power density is calculated from magnetic field measured with a phase-resolved magnetic probe. The anomalous skin effect (ASE) for the cylindrical rf coil is compared to those previously reported for the planar and re-entrant cylindrical rf coils. Physical reasons for our observed characteristics of ASE are presented. With the increasing discharge power, the size and the number of negative and positive power absorption regions evolve into several distinct patterns. For the low discharge power (at 156.9 W), there is one area of positive and one area of negative power absorption in the radial direction. For the medium discharge power (279 W–683.5 W), there are two areas of negative and two areas of positive power absorption. For the even higher discharge power (above 803.5 W), the number of areas is the same as that of the medium discharge power, but the size of the inner positive and negative power absorption areas is approximately doubled and halved, respectively, while the outer positive and negative power absorption areas slightly shrinks. The evolution of positive and negative power absorption regions is explained as a result of electron thermal diffusion and the energy conversion between rf current and electric field. The spatial decays of electric field and current density are also elucidated by linking them with the positive and negative power absorption pattern.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2015

Experimental investigation on plasma parameter profiles on a wafer level with reactor gap lengths in an inductively coupled plasma

The gap length effect on plasma parameters is investigated in a planar type inductively coupled plasma at various conditions. The spatial profiles of ion densities and the electron temperatures on the wafer level are measured with a 2D probe array based on the floating harmonic method. At low pressures, the spatial profiles of the plasma parameters rarely changed by various gap lengths, which indicates that nonlocal kinetics are dominant at low pressures. However, at relatively high pressures, the spatial profiles of the plasma parameter changed dramatically. These plasma distribution profile characteristics should be considered for plasma reactor design and processing setup, and can be explained by the diffusion of charged particles and the local kinetics.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2015

Effects of feedstock availability on the negative ion behavior in a C{sub 4}F{sub 8} inductively coupled plasma

In this paper, the negative ion behavior in a C{sub 4}F{sub 8} inductively coupled plasma (ICP) is investigated using a hybrid model. The model predicts a non-monotonic variation of the total negative ion density with power at low pressure (10–30 mTorr), and this trend agrees well with experiments that were carried out in many fluorocarbon (fc) ICP sources, like C{sub 2}F{sub 6}, CHF{sub 3}, and C{sub 4}F{sub 8}. This behavior is explained by the availability of feedstock C{sub 4}F{sub 8} gas as a source of the negative ions, as well as by the presence of low energy electrons due to vibrational excitation at low power. The maximum of the negative ion density shifts to low power values upon decreasing pressure, because of the more pronounced depletion of C{sub 4}F{sub 8} molecules, and at high pressure (∼50 mTorr), the anion density continuously increases with power, which is similar to fc CCP sources. Furthermore, the negative ion composition is identified in this paper. Our work demonstrates that for a clear understanding of the negative ion behavior in radio frequency C{sub 4}F{sub 8} plasma sources, one needs to take into account many factors, like the attachment characteristics, the anion composition, the spatial profiles, and the reactor configuration. Finally, a detailed comparison of our simulation results with experiments is conducted.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2015

Correlation between vibrational temperature of N{sub 2} and plasma parameters in inductively coupled Ar/N{sub 2} plasmas

Vibrational temperature (T{sub vib}) of N{sub 2} gas and electron energy distribution function (EEDF) were measured in Ar/N{sub 2} mixture inductively coupled plasma (ICP). At a low gas pressure of 5 mTorr where the EEDF is bi-Maxwellian distribution, plasma density n{sub p} and T{sub vib} (from 7000 K to 5600 K) slightly decrease. However, remarkable decrease in n{sub p} and T{sub vib} is found with the dilution of N{sub 2} gas at a high gas pressure of 50 mTorr, where the EEDF is depleted Maxwellian distribution at a fixed ICP power of 150 W. When the ICP power increases from 150 W to 300 W at the gas pressure of 50 mTorr, the depleted tail on the EEDF is replenished, while n{sub p} is little changed with the dilution of N{sub 2} gas. In this case, T{sub vib} slightly decreases from 9500 K to 7600 K. These results indicate that the variation of T{sub vib} is strongly correlated to the plasma parameters, such as the plasma density and EEDF.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2015

Effect of low-damage inductively coupled plasma on shallow nitrogen-vacancy centers in diamond

Near-surface nitrogen-vacancy (NV) centers in diamond have been successfully employed as atomic-sized magnetic field sensors for external spins over the last years. A key challenge is still to develop a method to bring NV centers at nanometer proximity to the diamond surface while preserving their optical and spin properties. To that aim we present a method of controlled diamond etching with nanometric precision using an oxygen inductively coupled plasma process. Importantly, no traces of plasma-induced damages to the etched surface could be detected by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and confocal photoluminescence microscopy techniques. In addition, by profiling the depth of NV centers created by 5.0 keV of nitrogen implantation energy, no plasma-induced quenching in their fluorescence could be observed. Moreover, the developed etching process allowed even the channeling tail in their depth distribution to be resolved. Furthermore, treating a {sup 12}C isotopically purified diamond revealed a threefold increase in T{sub 2} times for NV centers with <4 nm of depth (measured by nuclear magnetic resonance signal from protons at the diamond surface) in comparison to the initial oxygen-terminated surface.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2015

A tightly coupled non-equilibrium model for inductively coupled radio-frequency plasmas

The objective of the present work is the development of a tightly coupled magneto-hydrodynamic model for inductively coupled radio-frequency plasmas. Non Local Thermodynamic Equilibrium (NLTE) effects are described based on a hybrid State-to-State approach. A multi-temperature formulation is used to account for thermal non-equilibrium between translation of heavy-particles and vibration of molecules. Excited electronic states of atoms are instead treated as separate pseudo-species, allowing for non-Boltzmann distributions of their populations. Free-electrons are assumed Maxwellian at their own temperature. The governing equations for the electro-magnetic field and the gas properties (e.g., chemical composition and temperatures) are written as a coupled system of time-dependent conservation laws. Steady-state solutions are obtained by means of an implicit Finite Volume method. The results obtained in both LTE and NLTE conditions over a broad spectrum of operating conditions demonstrate the robustness of the proposed coupled numerical method. The analysis of chemical composition and temperature distributions along the torch radius shows that: (i) the use of the LTE assumption may lead to an inaccurate prediction of the thermo-chemical state of the gas, and (ii) non-equilibrium phenomena play a significant role close the walls, due to the combined effects of Ohmic heating and macroscopic gradients.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2015

An inductively heated hot cavity catcher laser ion source

An inductively heated hot cavity catcher has been constructed for the production of low-energy ion beams of exotic, neutron-deficient Ag isotopes. A proof-of-principle experiment has been realized by implanting primary {sup 107}Ag{sup 21+} ions from a heavy-ion cyclotron into a graphite catcher. A variable-thickness nickel foil was used to degrade the energy of the primary beam in order to mimic the implantation depth expected from the heavy-ion fusion-evaporation recoils of N = Z {sup 94}Ag. Following implantation, the silver atoms diffused out of the graphite and effused into the catcher cavity and transfer tube, where they were resonantly laser ionized using a three-step excitation and ionization scheme. Following mass separation, the ions were identified by scanning the frequency of the first resonant excitation step while recording the ion count rate. Ion release time profiles were measured for different implantation depths and cavity temperatures with the mean delay time varying from 10 to 600 ms. In addition, the diffusion coefficients for silver in graphite were measured for temperatures of 1470 K, 1630 K, and 1720 K, from which an activation energy of 3.2 ± 0.3 eV could be determined.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗
DOE OSTI2016

Design of spherical electron gun for ultra high frequency, CW power inductive output tube

Inductive Output Tube (IOT) is an amplifier that usually operates in UHF range. It is an electron tube whose basic structure is similar to conventional vacuum devices. This device is widely used in broadcast applications but is now being explored for scientific applications also specifically, particle accelerators and fusion plasma heating purposes. The paper describes the design approach of a spherical gridded electron gun of a 500 MHz, 100 kW CW power IOT. The electron gun structure has been simulated and optimized for operating voltage and current of 40kV and 3.5 A respectively. The electromagnetic analysis of this spherical electron gun has been carried out in CST and TRAK codes.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2016

Transducer selection and application in magnetoacoustic tomography with magnetic induction

As an acoustic receiver, transducer plays a vital role in signal acquisition and image reconstruction for magnetoacoustic tomography with magnetic induction (MAT-MI). In order to optimize signal acquisition, the expressions of acoustic pressure detection and waveform collection are theoretically studied based on the radiation theory of acoustic dipole and the reception pattern of transducer. Pressure distributions are simulated for a cylindrical phantom model using a planar piston transducer with different radii and bandwidths. The proposed theory is also verified by the experimental measurements of acoustic waveform detection for an aluminum foil cylinder. It is proved that acoustic pressure with sharp and clear boundary peaks can be detected by the large-radius transducer with wide bandwidth, reflecting the differential of the induced Lorentz force accurately, which is helpful for precise conductivity reconstruction. To detect acoustic pressure with acceptable pressure amplitude, peak pressure ratio, amplitude ratio, and improved signal to noise ratio, the scanning radius of 5–10 times the radius of the object should be selected to improve the accuracy of image reconstruction. This study provides a theoretical and experimental basis for transducer selection and application in MAT-MI to obtain reconstructed images with improved resolution and definition.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2016

Measuring ion velocity distribution functions through high-aspect ratio holes in inductively coupled plasmas

Several issues associated with plasma etching of high aspect ratio structures originate from the ions' bombardment of the sidewalls of the feature. The off normal angle incident ions are primarily due to their temperature at the sheath edge and possibly to charging effects. We have measured the ion velocity distribution function (IVDF) at the wafer surface in an industrial inductively coupled plasma reactor by using multigrid retarding field analyzers (RFA) in front of which we place 400 μm thick capillary plates with holes of 25, 50, and 100 μm diameters. The RFA then probes IVDF at the exit of the holes with Aspect Ratios (AR) of 16, 8, and 4, respectively. The results show that the ion flux dramatically drops with the increase in AR. By comparing the measured IVDF with an analytical model, we concluded that the ion temperature is 0.27 eV in our plasma conditions. The charging effects are also observed and are shown to significantly reduce the ion energy at the bottom of the feature but only with a “minor” effect on the ion flux and the shape of the IVDF.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2016

Optimization of time on CF{sub 4}/O{sub 2} etchant for inductive couple plasma reactive ion etching of TiO{sub 2} thin film

In this work, we investigate the optimum etching of titanium dioxide (TiO{sub 2}) using inductive couple plasma reactive ion etching (ICP-RIE) on our fabricated devices. By using a combination of CF{sub 4}/O{sub 2} gases as plasma etchant with ratio of 3:1, three samples of TiO{sub 2} thin film were etched with different time duration of 10 s, 15 s and 20 s. The ion bombardment of CF{sub 4} gases with plasma enhancement by O{sub 2} gas able to break the oxide bond of TiO{sub 2} and allow anisotropic etch profile with maximum etch rate of 18.6 nm/s. The sample was characterized by using optical profilometer to determine the depth of etched area and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) for etch profile characterization.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗