Parameters of the Plasma Produced at the Surface of a Ferroelectric Cathode by Different Driving Pulses

Summary form only given. Spectroscopic investigations of the properties of the plasma produced by a ferroelectric plasma source are presented. The plasma electron density and electron and ion temperature near the ferroelectric surface were determined from spectral line intensities and broadenings. The density of neutrals in the vicinity of the FPS surface, determined by analyses of neutral atom emission lines accounting opacity effect, was found to be ~10¹⁶ cm^-3 . It was shown that the plasma electron density depends on the method of driving pulses application. The latter determines the gas and plasma ambience and the direction of the electron flow with respect to the plasma. Three different methods of the plasma formation were tested and results are compared. It was shown that the plasma electron density depends on the method of driving pulses application. Maximal plasma density up to 10¹⁵ cm^-3 is achieved when the electrons attached to the ferroelectric surface by the driving electric field are released from the surface owing to driving pulse sharp decay and ionize heavy atoms desorbed from the ceramic. A mechanism controlling the density of the surface plasma is suggested. This mechanism relates to the surface density of bounded polarization charges which in it turn depends on the driving electric field and the ferroelectric sample properties. It was found that the product of the average plasma density n_e and the thickness of the plasma layer h in an incomplete surface discharge relates to the bound polarization charge surface density as sigma = ehn_e. This relation was verified by the data obtained in the experiments