Versatile particle collection concept for correlation of particle growth and discharge parameters in dusty plasmas

The feasibility of collecting nanoparticles from a dusty plasma by means of the neutral drag force is investigated. The nanoparticles are formed in a capacitively coupled asymmetric discharge running in an Ar/C2H2-mixture at a frequency of 13.56 MHz and an RF-power of 9 W. By opening a gate valve between the plasma reactor and a vacuum chamber at a lower pressure at any desired point of the growth cycle of the dust particles a neutral gas flux is induced that drags the particles out of the plasma onto a substrate. By changing the parameters of the collection process, e.g. the substrate positioning or the substrate temperature, the efficiency of the collection process can be adjusted. Information about the particle size distributions is obtained by performing ex situ SEM measurements. As the collection process creates a time stamp in the in situ recorded control parameters, e.g. the self-bias voltage or the process gas pressure, a direct and precise correlation between the control parameters and the particle size distribution is obtained.