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Self-cleaning Langmuir probe

Authors: W. E. Amatucci; M. E. Koepke; T. E. Sheridan; M. J. Alport; J. J. Carroll;

Self-cleaning Langmuir probe

Abstract

A contamination-free Langmuir probe of novel design is described. Surface contaminants, which lead to erroneous evaluation of plasma parameters by distortion of the probe’s current-voltage characteristic, are removed by the indirect heating of the probe tip with separate heating elements running parallel to the probe wire in multibore alumina tubing. This configuration minimizes magnetic field perturbations, while maintaining the compact profile and construction ease of an unheated probe. The design and operating characteristics of such a probe are reported. Temperatures at the probe tip, as measured by a subminiature thermocouple, can exceed 500 °C. Experiments determining the effect of probe temperature, Tprobe, on the characteristic have been performed in a Q-machine plasma (Ti≊Te≊0.2 eV). We find that for Tprobe<250 °C, the measured electron temperature is up to several times too large, indicating the presence of a contamination layer. This contamination layer is removed for Tprobe ≥300 °C, and accurate electron temperatures are recovered.

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Powered by OpenAIRE graph
Found an issue? Give us feedback
selected citations
These citations are derived from selected sources.
This is an alternative to the "Influence" indicator, which also reflects the overall/total impact of an article in the research community at large, based on the underlying citation network (diachronically).
BIP!Citations provided by BIP!
popularity
This indicator reflects the "current" impact/attention (the "hype") of an article in the research community at large, based on the underlying citation network.
BIP!Popularity provided by BIP!
influence
This indicator reflects the overall/total impact of an article in the research community at large, based on the underlying citation network (diachronically).
BIP!Influence provided by BIP!
impulse
This indicator reflects the initial momentum of an article directly after its publication, based on the underlying citation network.
BIP!Impulse provided by BIP!
37
Top 10%
Top 10%
Top 10%
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