Investigation of a Plasma Sheath in a Weakly Magnetized ICP Using Laser-Induced Fluorescence Technique

The laser-induced fluorescence (LIF) technique is used to measure the electric field in the sheath region of weakly magnetized inductively coupled plasma. First, the LIF spectra are simulated for the dc and RF helium plasma, considering both the Stark energy splits and their transition probabilities. It is observed that the sheath thickness oscillates in time in the RF plasma and is reduced when the plasma is magnetized. The plasma density distribution and the electron temperature were measured to explain the reduction in the sheath thickness.