Laser and radiofrequency tailored gas plasma sources

Summary form only given. We are carrying out plasma source research utilizing vacuum ultraviolet excimer laser ionization of an organic gas and microwave scattering and fast Langmuir probe measurements of the plasma formation and decay. We find that peak plasma densities of 2/spl times/10/sup 13//cm/sup 3/ in 5 cm/spl times/10 cm/spl times/20 cm volumes can be created with a 300 mJ, 20 ns pulse of 193 nm radiation. The plasma is formed in 10 ns and decays on microsecond time scales. We have analyzed, designed and constructed a plasma radiofrequency source (f=2-200 MHz, p=1-3 kW) to examine highly collisional plasma production and sustainment of the laser produced plasma. Wave modelling results utilizing our ANTENA II and MAXEB codes which incorporate both fast (helicon) and slow (Trivelpiece-Gould) modes are utilized to interpret the experimental results. One- and 2-D plasma density effects as well as the 2-D coupling antenna are incorporated and show that a moderate magnetic field can enhance wave propagation and absorption for collisional plasma sources. We present initial experimental results for argon and other gas components including air to provide an efficient plasma source.