Correlation between nanoparticle and plasma parameters with particle growth in dusty plasmas

Abstract

Since plasma parameters are altered by dust particles, studying how plasma parameters are related to dust particle growth is an important research issue in dusty plasma. In this paper, the correlation between plasma parameters (electron temperature and ion flux) and particle parameters (particle radius and density) is investigated in silane plasma both experimentally using a floating probe and theoretically by solving balance equations including an additional electron and ion loss to the dust. The results reveal that while the ion flux shows two peak values in the early discharge phase and at the end of coagulation phase, the electron temperature shows a sudden increase in the coagulation step and a gradual decrease in the molecular accretion step. Moreover, the calculated results with the secondary electron emission taken into account produce the best fit with the experimental results. Thus the study confirms that the secondary electron emission plays a crucial role in the coagulation of the dust particles. (C) 2011 American Institute of Physics. [doi:10.1063/1.3531546]