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November 13-14, 2017 Paris, France
5
th
International Conference on
PLASMA CHEMISTRY AND
PLASMA PROCESSING
Journal of Biotechnology and Phytochemistry
Volume 1, Issue 2
Plasma Chemistry 2017
RF inductive antenna probe for plasma process
monitoring
A A Howling
1
, Ph Guittienne
2
, R Agnello
1
and
I Furno
1
1
Swiss Plasma Center, Switzerland
2
Helyssen, Switzerland
M
onitoring of plasma parameters such as the electron density
is crucial for advanced process control. A non-intrusive
inductive probe is described which is sensitive to the plasma via
their mutual inductance. The resulting change in impedance of
the antenna probe causes a shift in its resonant frequency which
is tracked by a phase-locked loop. The antenna is modelled as a
multi-conductor transmission line, where the mutual inductance
depends on its complex image in the plasma. We describe the
design of a prototype, its calibration by 100 GHz heterodyne
microwave interferometry, and preliminary measurements of
plasma density.
Biography
A A Howling obtained his master’s degree in science and application of electric
plasmas at Oxford University in 1982, followed by PhD at Culham Laboratory,
UKAEA. In 1989, he co-founded the industrial plasma applications group
with Dr. Ch Hollenstein at the Swiss Plasma Center in EPFL Lausanne. He is
currently working as a Senior Scientist in the group of Dr. Ivo Furno for basic
plasma physics and applications at EPFL, Switzerland.
alan.howling@epfl.chA A Howling et al., J Biot Phyt 2017