Controlled dust formation in pulsed rf plasmas

This paper deals with the formation of nanoparticles in a pulsed discharge. Experiments are performed in a capacitively coupled discharge operated in a mixture of argon and acetylene. The paper focuses especially on the influence of the pulse frequency on the dust formation. The experiments reveal the existence of a rather narrow frequency band that separates a frequency region with no dust formation from a frequency region where dust formation occurs. The decisive point in the observations is that a small change in the pulse frequency (from 700 to 725 Hz) is enough to induce or, respectively, suppress the formation of dust particles. The experimental results are discussed by means of a simple model that allows one to calculate the density of negative ions (C2H-, C4H-, etc.) as a function of the pulse frequency. (C) 2009 American Institute of Physics. [doi: 10.1063/1.3224874]