Characterization of Particle Growth and Enhancement of Sputtering Yields in a Co-generated Dusty Plasma

Abstract

A Direct Current glow discharge argon plasma is produced in between the graphite made cathode and the anode. Due to the ion bombardment, the carbon particles are eroded from cathode surface at a particular discharge condition. These carbon particles are then charged negatively by collecting more electrons than ions and levitated in the cathode sheath region by balancing electrostatic force with gravitational force. The experimental results showed that the more carbon particle erode if the experiments have performed for longer time and higher discharge voltage and background pressure. The sputtering even becomes more efficient when the cathode is biased with negative voltage. We believe, our experimental results will be helpful to fusion community to understand the sputtering from carbon walls of various tokamaks.