Measurements and modeling of radio frequency field structures in a helicon plasma

Measurements of the radio frequency (rf) field structure, plasma density, and electron temperature are presented for a 1 kW argon helicon plasma source. The measured profiles change considerably when the equilibrium magnetic field is reversed. The measured rf fields are identified as fields of radially localized helicon waves, which propagate in the axial direction. The rf field structure is compared to the results of two-dimensional cold plasma full-wave simulations for the measured density profiles. Electron collision frequency is adjusted in the simulations to match the simulated and measured field profiles. The resulting frequency is anomalously high, which is attributed to the excitation of an ion-acoustic instability. The calculated power deposition is insensitive to the collision frequency and accounts for most of the power supplied by the rf-generator. (C) 2011 American Institute of Physics. [doi: 10.1063/1.3533273]