Aerosol dynamics in a sputtering DC discharge

A. Michau (1) , C. Arnas (2) , K. Hassouni (1)

1 LSPM - Laboratoire des Sciences des Procédés et des Matériaux
2 PIIM - Physique des interactions ioniques et moléculaires

An aerosol sectional model that describes the space‐time evolution of the size distribution of carbon particles produced in a graphite cathode sputtering discharge is presented. The model includes the coupled phenomena of particle growth processes, due to coagulation and molecular surface deposition, particle nucleation as inferred from a molecular growth process, particle charging in the plasma and particle drift‐diffusion transport in the electrode gap. Comparison between simulation results and experiments showed that the model yields a satisfactory prediction of the particle cloud density and particle mean diameter in the electrode gap. It also yields a satisfactory prediction of the particle size distribution. The calculated size distribution shows two particle‐populations: a first one with a very small size and just above the nucleus diameter and a second population, with a larger size, that determines the mean‐diameter of the particle cloud. The sectional model also shows that simple aerosol models assuming single size particles significantly overestimates the particle density although it yields a satisfactory prediction for the particle size.

Mots clés: DC discharges; dusty plasma; aerosol dynamic; cluster growth; model

Domaines: Physique des plasmas [physics.plasm-ph]

A. Michau, C. Arnas, K. Hassouni. Aerosol dynamics in a sputtering DC discharge. Journal of Applied Physics, 2017, 121 (16), pp.163301. ⟨10.1063/1.4981245⟩. ⟨hal-01585942⟩