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Concept
Langmuir probe
Summary
A Langmuir probe is a device used to determine the electron temperature, electron density, and electric potential of a plasma. It works by inserting one or more electrodes into a plasma, with a constant or time-varying electric potential between the various electrodes or between them and the surrounding vessel. The measured currents and potentials in this system allow the determination of the physical properties of the plasma.
The beginning of Langmuir probe theory is the I–V characteristic of the Debye sheath, that is, the current density flowing to a surface in a plasma as a function of the voltage drop across the sheath. The analysis presented here indicates how the electron temperature, electron density, and plasma potential can be derived from the I–V characteristic. In some situations a more detailed analysis can yield information on the ion density (), the ion temperature , or the electron energy distribution function (EEDF) or .
Consider first a surface biased to a large negative voltage. If the voltage is large enough, essentially all electrons (and any negative ions) will be repelled. The ion velocity will satisfy the Bohm sheath criterion, which is, strictly speaking, an inequality, but which is usually marginally fulfilled. The Bohm criterion in its marginal form says that the ion velocity at the sheath edge is simply the sound speed given by
The ion temperature term is often neglected, which is justified if the ions are cold. Even if the ions are known to be warm, the ion temperature is usually not known, so it is usually assumed to be simply equal to the electron temperature. In that case, consideration of finite ion temperature only results in a small numerical factor. Z is the (average) charge state of the ions, and is the adiabatic coefficient for the ions. The proper choice of is a matter of some contention. Most analyses use , corresponding to isothermal ions, but some kinetic theory suggests that . For and , using the larger value results in the conclusion that the density is times smaller.
Official source
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