Eur. Phys. J. AP 5, 111-114 (1999)
https://doi.org/10.1051/epjap:1999117

Emission of carbon clusters from sooting plasma

Accelerator Laboratory, PINSTECH, P.O. Nilore, Islamabad, Pakistan

Corresponding author: pinstech@paknet2.ptc.pk

Received: 2 October 1998
Revised: 9 December 1998
Accepted: 25 January 1999
Published online: 15 February 1999

Abstract

A hollow cathode source with a specially designed cusp magnetic field B_z(r,θ) provides clustering environment to the sputtered carbon atoms and ions. Source's distinctive features are its sooting properties that depend upon the two well-defined regions within the discharge. The cusp field drives both of these regions but in different modes – one region ionizes the source gas, introduces the sputtered C from the hollow cathode while the other is the collision dominated gyrational motion of the C⁺ ions along B_z(r,θ) contours. Tunability of plasma's discharge characteristics provides the tool to investigate clustering in the sooting plasma.