Spectral Kinetic Simulation of the Ideal Multipole Resonance Probe

This book reveals the kinetic effects in low-pressure plasmas. Active plasma resonance spectroscopy (APRS) is a process-compatible plasma diagnostic method utilizing the natural ability of plasmas to resonate near the electron plasma frequency. The Multipole Resonance Probe (MRP) is a particular realization of APRS with a high degree of geometric and electric symmetry, which is used for the supervision and control of low-temperature plasmas. Over the last decade, many studies of the MRP have been conducted to understand the resonance behavior of the plasma via the cold plasma model.

However, kinetic effects become pronounced in a low-pressure regime, which cannot be predicted by the cold plasma model. Therefore, the spectral kinetic model of the idealized MRP is established to cover the limitation. With the help of the spectral kinetic simulation, the damping and resonance broadening caused by kinetic effects can be observed. It enables the determination of the electron temperature from the half-width in resonance curves, which was speculated for more than 10 years but not clarified. Simultaneously the electron density can be derived from the resonance frequency. Consequently, the influence of kinetic effects on the resonance structure is emphasized in a more realistic physics. The spectral kinetic model can be seen as indispensable support in the MRP-plasma system for reliable supervision and control of the plasma process.