Particle and power balance in helicon plasmas

Summary form only given. We have previously reported detailed measurements of plasma parameters in an argon helicon discharge at 800 G and /spl ap/2 kW of RF power, using helical and straight Nagoya Type III antennas. In particular, the axial (z) variations of plasma density n, electron temperature T/sub e/, and space potential were determined, as well as the radial profiles at one z. These data showed the density and temperature peaking downstream from the antenna, as expected if energy is absorbed from a traveling wave. By contrast, for the non-helicon, inductively coupled discharge at B=0, the plasma energy is localized to the region under the antenna. Using the measured data, we computed the energy and particle balance in these discharges.