Neutral accumulation from plasma-wall interactions in plasma opening switches

Summary Form only given, as follows. The effects of contaminants on the electrodes of plasma opening switches have been studied. The contaminants introduce backscattered and sputtered neutral atoms into the carbon plasma that is impinging on the cathode. The process has been investigated with the TRIM.SP code. The distribution of density of these neutral atoms from the cathode surface has been obtained and found to be substantial compared to the density of the incident carbon plasma. The dependence of the sputtering yield on the composition of the contaminants has also been studied.<>