Sustaining power per electron for a large low-pressure argon magnetoplasma reactor: experiment and isothermal model results

For a cylindrical high-density plasma in argon at low gas pressure, this paper examines, in a quantitative manner, the combined influence of an axial magnetic field and of the reactor dimensions on the reactor plasma density, the electron temperature and the parameter Θ (the average power absorbed per electron required by discharge power balance). The experimental results compare favourably with the predictions of a simple anisotropic isothermal diffusion model coupled with power balance. For plasma reactors with appropriately large aspect ratios (the ratio of length to radius), reasonable magnetic fields (such as 500 G for the case at hand) can yield great reductions in Θ, and thus in the discharge power required to achieve a given plasma density.