Travelling Modes in Wave-Heated Plasma Sources

This paper describes a theoretical and experimental study of surface- and helicon-wave-heated plasma sources in which standing waves are set up in the cavity between the closed end plate to a plasma vessel and a wave launcher while travelling waves propagate from the opposite side of the launcher into a region which is long compared with the attenuation distance of the waves. We model the situation as a lossy transmission line of finite length coupled at the launcher to a lossy transmission line of infinite extent. RF power applied to the launcher divides in the ratio of the input impedances of the two transmission lines. For a conducting end plate, the power delivered to the travelling waves is a maximum when the cavity length is an odd number of 1/4 wavelengths long for which its input impedance is a maximum. Similarly, for an insulated end plate, the power delivered to the travelling waves is a maximum for a cavity with a length equal to an integer number of half wavelengths for which its input impedance is again a maximum.