Ion-acoustic solitary waves in a high power pulsed magnetron sputtering discharge

We report on the creation and propagation of ion-acoustic solitary waves in a high power pulsed magnetron sputtering discharge. A dense localized plasma is created by applying high energy pulses (4-12 J) of length; approximate to 70 mu s, at a repetition frequency of 50 pulses per second, to a planar magnetron sputtering source. The temporal behaviour of the electron density, measured by a Langmuir probe, shows solitary waves travelling away from the magnetron target. The velocity of the waves depends on the gas pressure but is roughly independent of the pulse energy.
QC 20120102