Electron surface layer at the interface of a plasma and a dielectric wall

Abstract

We study the potential and the charge distribution across the interface of a plasma and a dielectric wall. For this purpose, the charge bound to the wall is modelled as a quasi-stationary electron surface layer which satisfies Poisson's equation and minimizes the grand canonical potential of the wall-thermalized excess electrons constituting the wall charge. Based on an effective model for a graded interface taking into account the image potential and the offset of the conduction band to the potential just outside the dielectric, we specifically calculate the potential and the electron distribution for magnesium oxide, silicon dioxide and sapphire surfaces in contact with a helium discharge. Depending on the electron affinity of the surface, we find two vastly different behaviors. For negative electron affinity, electrons do not penetrate into the wall and an external surface charge is formed in the image potential, while for positive electron affinity, electrons penetrate into the wall and a space charge layer develops in the interior of the dielectric. We also investigate how the electron surface layer merges with the bulk of the dielectric.

15 pages, 9 figures, accepted version

References in corpus (7)

• Surface states and the charge of a dust particle in a plasma
• Integrated micro-plasmas in silicon operating in helium
• Physisorption of an electron in deep surface potentials off a dielectric surface
• Trapping electrons in semiconductor air bubbles: A theoretical approach
• Physisorption kinetics of electrons at plasma boundaries
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• Infrared light extinction by charged dielectric core-coat particles
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• Laser-stimulated photodetachment of electrons from the negatively charged dielectric substrates
• Scattering of infrared light by dielectric core-shell particles