Versatile meter of parameters of gas-discharge plasma

Summary form only given. So far the measurement of parameters of a gas-discharge plasma remains a complex problem, which each researcher solves as a rule independently. The probe data can be quite complex and not easy to interpret, so that the accuracy achievable by simplified techniques is insufficient as a rule. To overcome these problems the author has developed a versatile meter for the parameters of a gas-discharge plasma-"PlasmaMeter" (PM). The PM is designed for the measurement of key parameters of a laboratory and technological low-temperature stationary plasma such as: plasma potential, floating potential, electron and positive ion density, electron temperature, EEDF. The PM is based on the method of a Langmuir probe supplemented with combined electronic and numerical processing of the probe signal. Use of this technique allows one to reach high sensitivity (up to 3-4 orders of magnitude) when measuring an EEDF tail even in noisy plasmas. The PM also includes a system of motorized motion of the probe on two coordinates that allows it to perform spatially resolved measurements throughout the plasma. Probe precleaning by negative bias is available too.