Spatial Characteristics of Arc Discharge Plasma in Relation to the Synthesis of Silicon Nanostructures

Abstract: The paper presents an arc discharge model as applied to the synthesis problems of semiconductor nanostructures. The model is based on a completely nonequilibrium approximation and includes charged particle density balance equations, electron energy balance and energy balance equation for the heavy component of plasma, and Poisson’s equations for describing a self-consistent electric field. As a result of a numerical study of the system of equations describing an electric arc discharge, spatial distributions of the main characteristics of an arc discharge, such as the potential and intensity of the electric field, densities of electrons and ions, and gas temperatures were obtained.