High and low frequency relaxation oscillations in a capacitive discharge plasma

Both high and low frequency relaxation oscillations have been observed in an argon capacitive discharge connected to a peripheral grounded chamber through a slot with dielectric spacers. The oscillations, observed from time-varying optical emission of the main discharge chamber, show, for example, a high frequency （46 kHz） relaxation oscillation at 100 mTorr, with an absorbed power near the peripheral breakdown, and a low frequency （2.7-3.7 Hz） oscillation, at a higher absorbed power. The high frequency oscillation is found to ignite a plasma in the slot, but usually not in the periphery. The high frequency oscillation is interpreted by using an electromagnetic model of the slot impedance, combined with the circuit analysis of the system including a matching network. The model is further developed by using a parallel connection of variable peripheral capacitance to analyse the low frequency oscillation. The results obtained from the model are in agreement with the experimental observations and indicate that a variety of behaviours are dependent on the matching conditions.     

Review of relaxation oscillations in plasma processing discharges

Relaxation oscillations due to plasma instabilities at frequencies ranging from a few Hz to tens of kHz have been observed in various types of plasma processing discharges. Relaxation oscillations have been observed in electropositive capacitive discharges between a powered anode and a metallic chamber whose periphery is grounded through a slot with dielectric spacers. The oscillations of time-varying optical emission from the main discharge chamber show, for example, a high-frequency (\sim 40~kHz) relaxation oscillation at 13.33Pa, with an absorbed power being nearly the peripheral breakdown power, and a low-frequency ( \sim 3 Hz) oscillation, with an even higher absorbed power. The high-frequency oscillation is found to ignite plasma in the slot, but usually not in the peripheral chamber. The kilohertz oscillations are modelled using an electromagnetic model of the slot impedance, coupled to a circuit analysis of the system including the matching network. The model results are in general agreement with the experimental observations, and indicate a variety of behaviours dependent on the matching conditions. In low-pressure inductive discharges, oscillations appear in the transition between low-density capacitively driven and high-density inductively driven discharges when attaching gases such as SF₆ and Ar/SF₆ mixtures are used. Oscillations of charged particles, plasma potential, and light, at frequencies ranging from a few Hz to tens of kHz, are seen for gas pressures between 0.133 Pa and 13.33 Pa and discharge powers in a range of 75--1200 W. The region of instability increases as the plasma becomes more electronegative, and the frequency of plasma oscillation increases as the power, pressure, and gas flow rate increase. A volume-averaged (global) model of the kilohertz instability has been developed; the results obtained from the model agree well with the experimental observations.     

Low-Frequency Relaxation Oscillations in Capacitive Discharge Processes

Low-frequency （2.72-3.70 Hz） relaxation oscillations at 100 mTorr at higher absorbed power were observed from time-varying optical emission of the main discharge chamber and the periphery. We interpret the low frequency oscillations using an electromagnetic model of the slot impedance with parallel connection variational peripheral capacitance, coupled to a circuit analysis of the system including the matching network. The model results are in general agreement with the experimental observations, and indicate a variety of behaviours dependent on the matching conditions.     

Number density and temperature measurements obtained using sensitive diode laser spectroscopy in an argon plasma

The absolute concentration and translational temperature of the 2p₁₀ and 2p₇ excited states of argon have been measured in an inductively coupled plasma chamber under a variety of operating conditions using both calibrated diode laser frequency modulation spectroscopy and cavity enhanced absorption spectroscopy. Accurate lineshape analysis of frequency modulation signals has been employed to extract the desired information, and is corroborated by cavity enhanced measurements. Temperatures are found to vary linearly with pressure from ∼400 K at 20 mTorr (2.7 Pa) to ∼510 K at 90 mTorr (12 Pa) in a 200 W discharge while concentrations peak at 3.25×10⁸ cm^-3 at 30 mTorr (4 Pa) (also in a 200 W discharge). The uncertainty in the recovered temperature is 7%, dominated by uncertainties in the calibration of the frequency scale. PACS 42.62Fi; 52.70kz     

Compact,continuous-wave,singly resonant optical parametric oscillator based on periodically poled RbTiOAsO4 in a Nd:YVO4 laser

We describe a compact all-solid-state continuous-wave, singly resonant optical parametric oscillator (SRO) based on periodically poled RbTiOAsO4. The SRO is pumped at 1.064 microm by a Nd:YVO4 laser, which is itself pumped by a 3-W diode laser. Using the intracavity technique produced an oscillation threshold for the SRO of only 1.6 W (diode-laser power). For 3 W of diode pump power some 65 mW was obtained in the (nonresonant) idler (wavelength 3.52 microm). Temperature tuning over the range 10-100 degrees C resulted in tuning ranges of 1.52-1.54 and 3.41-3.54 microm for the signal and the idler waves, respectively. Importantly, relaxation oscillations were absent.     

Self-pulsation and optical chaos in self-pumped photorefractive BaTiO3

Sinusoidal intensity oscillations of the phase conjugated wave reflected from a self-pumped photorefractive BaTiO₃ crystal have been observed. The oscillation amplitude is shown to be increased by providing optical feedback of the light scattered during grating formation. The oscillation frequency ? can be tuned from 0.024 Hz to 2 Hz by changing the light intensity I₀ of the object beam from 0.7 W/cm² to 100 W/cm². A power law ? ∝ I^β₀ ∝ σ with β = 0.89 was observed over this range of intensities (σ = photoconductivity). Transitions to a chaotically oscillating or a stable reflecting state have been observed at higher power levels or with increased optical feedback. An additional pump beam near the entrance face of the signal beam can decrease the build-up time for the self-pumping process by a factor of five or more.     

A Small Microwave Plasma Source for Long Column Production without Magnetic Field

A new HF device is described. It allows the production, without the use of a magnetic field, of long plasma columns from a small HF coupling structure situated at one end of the column. Its operation is based on the propagation of a cold plasma surface wave. This device can work (in argon for example) at pressures from 2 mTorr to 20 Torr with electron densities from 1010 cm-3 to 1013 cm-3, depending on plasma diameter and HF power. Typically, 80W of 500 MHz HF will produce a 25 mn diameter column of 1.8 m length. The plasma is quiescent (low electron density fluctuations), efficient (~ 100% absorbed power), and perfectly reproducible. It can be used as a substitute for a positive column, and some practical applications are foreseen in ion production, laser excitation, gas preionization and spectroscopic sources.     

Electrical and optical characteristics of the radio frequency surface dielectric barrier discharge plasma actuation

Electrical characteristics and optical emission spectrum of the radio frequency(RF) surface dielectric barrier discharge(SDBD) plasma actuation are investigated experimentally in this paper. Influences of operating pressure, duty cycle and load power on the discharge are analyzed. When the operating pressure reaches 30 kPa, the discharge energy calculated from the Charge–Voltage(Q–V) Lissajous figure increases significantly, while the effective capacitance decreases remarkably. As the duty cycle of the applied voltage increases, the voltage–current waveforms, the area of Q–V loop and the capacity show no distinct changes. Below 40 W, effective capacitance increases with the increase of load power, but it almost remains unchanged when load power is between 40 W and 95 W. The relative intensity I_(391.4)~peak/I_(380.5)~peak changes little as the operating pressure varies from 4 kPa to 100 kPa, while it rises evidently with the pressure below 4 kPa, which indicates that the RF discharge mode shifts from filamentary discharge to glow discharge at around 4 kPa. With the increase of load power, the relative intensity I_(391.4)~peak/I_(380.5)~peak rises evidently. Additionally, the relative intensity I_(371.1)~peak/I_(380.5)~peak is insensitive to the pressure,the duty cycle, and the load power.     

Chaos dynamics in semiconductor lasers with polarization-rotated optical feedback

By using polarization-rotated optical feedback from the transverse-electric (TE) mode to the transverse-magnetic (TM) mode, chaotic oscillations for both polarization modes are excited in a semiconductor laser. We find different correlations between these chaotic oscillations than those found in previous studies. In this study, the dynamics are strongly dependent on their radio-frequency (RF) components and they are divided into three RF regions. For low-pass filtered signals lower than the laser relaxation oscillation, there is an antiphase correlation between the two polarization modes. On the other hand, the two polarization modes have an in-phase correlation for the RF components of the high-pass filtered signals, which are higher than the relaxation oscillation. However, no correlations were observed between the two modes for the intermediate RF components that include the relaxation oscillation frequency. We also perform numerical calculations for the model and obtain good agreement between the theoretical and experimental results.     

高功率微波输出窗内侧击穿动力学的PIC/MCC模拟研究

高功率微波在受控热核聚变加热、微波高梯度加速器、高功率雷达、定向能武器、超级干扰机及冲击雷达等方面有着重要的应用.本文针对高功率微波输出窗内侧氩气放电击穿过程,建立了二次电子倍增和气体电离的一维空间分布、三维速度分布（1D3V）模型,并开发了相应的PIC/MC程序代码.研究了气压、微波频率、微波振幅对放电击穿的影响.结果表明：在真空情况下,介质窗放电击穿只存在二次电子倍增过程;在低气压和稍高气压时,二次电子倍增和气体电离共存;在极高气压时,气体电离占主导.给出了不同气压下电子、离子的密度和静电场的空间分布.此外还观察到,在500 mTorr时,随着微波振幅或微波频率的变化,气体电离出现的时刻和电离产生的等离子体峰值位置有较大差异,尤其是当微波频率（GHz）在数值上是微波振幅（MV/m）的2倍时,气体电离出现的较早.     

Tomographic analysis of the central magnetohydrodynamic oscillations on the HT-7 tokamak

Multi-channel soft x-ray (SX) detectors are applied to generate images of magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) oscillation on the HT-7 tokamak, and the data from SX cameras are analysed by using the Fourier--Bessel harmonic reconstruction method and the singular value decomposition. The image reconstruction of SX emissivity is obtained on the assumption of plasma rigid rotation. One of the important phenomena in the HT-7 discharge is the transition from the sawtooth oscillations to the MHD oscillations when the plasma density grows higher. The MHD structure observed in the SX tomography is featured as follows: the magnetic surface of MHD structure is made up of the crescent-shaped ``hot core' and the circular ``cold bubble'. The structure of the magnetic surface is relatively stable. It rotates in the direction of the electron diamagnetic drift at a frequency being the oscillation frequency of the MHD oscillations.     

Harmonic generation in ZnO nanocrystalline laser deposited thin films

ZnO plasma produced by third harmonic 355 nm of Nd:YAG laser at various ambient pressures of oxygen was used for depositing quality nanocrystalline ZnO thin films. Time and space resolved optical emission spectroscopy is used to correlate the plasma properties with that of deposited thin films. The deposited films showed particle size of 8 and 84 nm at ambient oxygen pressure of 100 and 900 mTorr, respectively. Third harmonic generation observed in ZnO thin films deposited under 100 mTorr of ambient oxygen is reported.     

13.56 MHz/2 MHz柱状感性耦合等离子体参数的对比研究

通过Langmuir双探针和发射光谱诊断方法,对比研究了驱动频率为13.56 MHz和2 MHz柱状感性耦合等离子体中电子密度和电子温度的径向分布规律.结果表明:在高频和低频放电中,输入功率的增加对等离子体参数产生了不同的影响,高频放电中主要提升了电子密度,低频放电中则主要提升了电子温度.固定气压为10 Pa,分别由高频和低频驱动时,电子密度的径向分布均为"凸型".而电子温度的分布差异比较明显,高频驱动时,电子温度在腔室中心较为平坦,在边缘略有上升;低频驱动时,电子温度随径向距离的增加而逐渐下降.为了进一步分析造成这种差异的原因,在相同放电条件下采集了氩等离子体的发射光谱图,利用分支比法计算了亚稳态粒子的数密度,发现电子温度的径向分布始终与亚稳态粒子的径向分布相反.继续升高气压到100 Pa,发现不论高频还是低频放电,电子密度的径向分布均从"凸型"转变为"马鞍形",较低气压时电子密度的均匀性有了一定的提升,但低频的均匀性更好.     

Diagnostics of an inductively coupled plasma in oxygen

Spatial time-integrated and space-time resolved profiles of excited atoms of oxygen were measured by optical emission spectroscopy for inductively coupled plasma (ICP) in oxygen. The discharge was sustained by a single turn coil supplied by 13.56 MHz RF generator delivering 100 and 200 W of power. The spatial emission profiles give the anatomy of the discharge required in order to understand the basic kinetics of ICP. Two types of nonuniformities are observed, azimuthal anisotropy and radial nonuniformity, both caused by spatially dependent energy supply to the electrons. Our experimental results show that oxygen is much more affected by azimuthal anisotropy and radial nonuniformity than argon. It is due to a different role of metastable atoms in kinetics of excitation, whereby stepwise excitation in oxygen is less probable than in argon. Optical emission data are supplemented by Langmuir probe measurements of electron densities and plasma potentials. Electrons gain energy from the time varying fields close to the coil, and the energy is not redistributed along the radius before it is dissipated in excitation, thus the observations are not consistent with the nonlocal theory predictions for the range of pressures, geometry, and power covered in this paper     

Experimental observation of intermittent route to chaos in magnetized filamentary discharge plasma due to the cylindrical plasma bubble

We delineate an experimental observation of the effect of the magnetic field along with mesh grid biasing in the presence of a cylindrical plasma bubble in a filamentary discharge magnetised plasma system. The cylindrical mesh grid of 80% optical transparency has been negatively biased and introduced in the plasma for creating a plasma bubble. Plasma floating potential fluctuations have been taken outside (LP1) and inside (LP2) of the plasma bubble. It has been noticed that as the external magnetic field is increased the oscillation pattern shows intermittent route to chaos as the system evolved from regular type of relaxation oscillations (of larger amplitude) to an irregular type of oscillations (of smaller amplitude) We have used recurrence quantification analysis (RQA) to the observed intermittency to chaos in the plasma. The main measures of RQA are laminarity (LAM) and determinism (DET). The laminarity measure can be associated with the average time between the chaotic burst in the intermittency. It has also been observed that the DET depends on the control parameter and decreases exponentially, features like a dip in skewness and a hump in the kurtosis with the variation of control parameter have been noticed, which are the strong evidence of intermittent behaviour of the system. Further, a numerical model has been developed to the observed experimental analysis of the intermittent route to chaos.     

Measurement of neutral gas temperature in inductively coupled plasmas

Dependence of the neutral gas temperature on the gas pressure and discharge power in an inductively coupled plasma source has been investigated using optical emission spectroscopy. Both nitrogen and argon plasmas have been studied separately. In the case of argon plasma, about 5% nitrogen was added to the total gas flow as an actinometer. The maximum temperature was found to be as high as 1850 K at 1 Torr working pressure and 600 W radiofrequency power. The temperature increases almost linearly with the logarithm of the gas pressure, but changes only slightly with the discharge power in the range of 100–600 W. In a nitrogen plasma, a sudden increase in the neutral gas temperature occurs when the gas pressure is increased at a given discharge power. This suggests a discharge-mode transition from the H-mode (high plasma density) to the E-mode (low plasma density). In the H-mode, the gas temperature is proportional to the logarithm of the gas pressure, as in the argon plasma. However, the gas temperature increases almost linearly with the discharge power, which is in contrast to the case of argon plasma. The electron density in the nitrogen plasma is about 10% of that in the argon plasma. This may explain the observation that the nitrogen neutral temperature is always lower than the argon neutral temperature under the same discharge power and gas pressure.     

Instantaneous frequency measurement applied to semiconductor laser relaxation oscillations

The frequency of relaxation oscillations in the output power of lasers, particularly semiconductor lasers, is an important parameter which can be used to inform other fundamental laser variables, for comparison with expected theory, and to show the effect of external influences, such as optical feedback, by a change in value. Thus, precision measurement of the relaxation frequency is important. Instantaneous frequency measurement algorithms are applied to experimental semiconductor laser relaxation-oscillation signals to determine whether reliable values can be extracted, for an extended range of injection current, as compared to direct measurement and fast Fourier transform techniques. Improvement is achieved but, more importantly, the technique clearly shows when other oscillations, such as those due to packaging, connectorization and power supply, dominate the oscillatory component of the output power, at low injection currents. The work further supports the finding that only mid-range injection currents can be used for reliable precision relaxation oscillation frequency measurement.     

Chaos synchronization in semiconductor lasers with polarization-rotated optical feedback

Chaotic oscillations of the transverse magnetic (TM) mode, which is not a common lasing mode, are excited by using polarization-rotated optical feedback from the transverse electric (TE) mode in a semiconductor laser. In our previous paper, we found that the dynamics were strongly dependent on their RF components under the condition of moderate optical feedback from the TE mode to the TM mode and that they were divided into three RF regions; low-pass filtered signals with a lower frequency than the laser relaxation oscillation frequency, intermediate RF components including the relaxation oscillation frequency, and high-pass filtered signals with a higher frequency higher than the relaxation oscillation frequency. Depending on the frequency bands, the laser outputs showed different correlations. In the present study, using such schemes, the polarization-rotated beam from a transmitter laser (i.e., the rotated TE-mode beam of a transmitter laser) is injected into a receiver laser. We experimentally observe chaos synchronization in accordance with the dynamics of RF components on the transmitter laser side. We also perform numerical calculations using a model and obtain good agreement between the theoretical and experimental results.     

Theoretical study of relaxation oscillation in triply resonant OPOs

The relaxation oscillation in triply resonant optical parametric oscillators (TROs) is studied theoretically. With constant pumping, the intensity noise spectra of the signal wave consist of a zero frequency and a relaxation oscillation frequency. An accurate relation between the relaxation oscillation frequency and the pump power is obtained. The square of the inherent relaxation oscillation frequency in TROs is linear in the square root of the pump power under high-power pumping. Also, the decay rate varies rapidly with low-power pumping and slowly with high-power pumping. Significantly, when there is a relaxation oscillation in the pumping, the undulation of the signal photon density in TROs also contains the relaxation oscillation frequency of the pumping besides its inherent noise. When those two frequencies are close, a resonance will appear, which should be avoided in practice. PACS 42.65.Yj; 42.65.Sf; 42.60.Rn     

Z箍缩等离子体振荡引起的电磁脉冲辐射

从理论上研究了Z箍缩过程中单模的等离子体振荡引起的电磁脉冲辐射。当模式扰动的相速度大于真空中的光速时,电磁脉冲辐射具有类似于切伦科夫辐射的角分布特征,并且随着相速度的增大这种定向辐射特征越显著;不同波长的电磁辐射也具有不同的角分布特征,短波长的电磁脉冲具有更好的定向性。电磁辐射功率强烈依赖于电子的等离子体振荡频率和等离子体柱的半径。