Abstract
The effect of ambipolar fluxes on nanoparticle charging in a typical low-pressure parallel-plate glow discharge is considered. It is shown that the equilibrium values of the nanoparticle charge in the plasma bulk and near-electrode areas are strongly affected by the ratio of the ambipolar flux and the ion thermal velocities. Under typical experimental conditions the above ratio is neither nor , which often renders the commonly used approximations of the purely thermal or “ion wind” ion charging currents inaccurate. By using the general approximation for the ambipolar drift-affected ion flux on the nanoparticle surface, it appears possible to obtain more accurate values of the nanoparticle charge that usually deviate within 10–25 % from the values obtained without a proper accounting for the ambipolar ion fluxes. The implications of the results obtained for glow discharge modeling and nanoparticle manipulation in low-pressure plasmas are discussed.
- Received 15 July 2004
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevE.71.026405
©2005 American Physical Society