A diagnostic method of radial electron density distribution based on microwave transmission of cylindrical plasma along multipath

Abstract

Based on the multipath propagation phase shift of electromagnetic wave in cylindrical plasma, a method to obtain the radial electron density distribution of non-uniform cylindrical plasma is proposed in this paper. Focused lens antennas are used in multipath transmission distribution diagnosis (MTDD), where the propagation area in the plasma is approximately the size of the focal spot. The equivalent propagation thickness at each layer can be calculated for each path based on the propagation region and layer thickness. Combining with Fermat's shortest wavelength principle, electromagnetic waves propagate in a straight line between different layers. The phase shift caused by the propagation of electromagnetic waves in each layer, starting from the outermost layer, can obtain layer by layer electron density. To validate the MTDD method, multipath transmission propagation phase shift was simulated in CST, and the electron density distribution was obtained, which has a good agreement with the preset electron density. In addition, the MTDD method was applied to inductively coupled plasma, and the diagnostic results showed high agreement with the Langmuir probe results. The proposed MTDD method has higher spatial resolution than the transmission diagnosis method and can provide more precise plasma parameter information.