Plasma source

Plasma sources generate plasmas.

Excitation of a plasma requires partial ionization of neutral atoms and/or molecules of a medium. There are several ways to cause ionization: collisions of energetic particles, strong electric fields acting on bond

recombine, the plasma can be sustained.

Plasma excitation by electromagnetic fields can be classified according to:

• Frequency classification of plasmas
• Energy coupling mode
  • Inductively coupled plasma
    • Solenoid coil
    • Planar coil
    • Helical resonator
  • Capacitively coupled plasma
    • Single-frequency capacitively coupled plasma
    • Dual-frequency capacitively coupled plasma
  • Wave-heated plasma
    • Electron cyclotron resonance
    • Helicon discharge
    • Surface-wave-sustained mode
    • Resonator mode

Plasma sources have numerous technical applications, for instance in light generation and plasma processing of materials. They can be used for extracting an ion beam, in which case they are also called ion sources.

See also

• Ion source

External links

• Plasma Source as Atom Source, Ion Source and Atom/Ion Hybrid Source