Single-shot Thomson scattering on argon plasmas created by the Microwave Plasma Torch; evidence for a new plasma class

To determine the fine-structure size of plasmas created by a Microwave Plasma Torch (MPT), single-shot Thomson scattering (TS) measurements were performed. The aim was to find a solution for the long-standing discrepancy between experiments and Global Plasma Models (GPMs). Since these GPMs are based on the assumption that (ambipolar) diffusion is the main loss process for charged particles, the diffusion length and thus the fine-structure size should be known with high precision before an appropriate theory-experiment comparison can be carried out. In order to avoid the effect of blurring, which is created during the accumulation of multi-shot TS signals and which obscures the fine-structures, single-shot measurements are indispensable to determine the diffusion length.The results of the present study reveal that the impression created by multi-shot TS that MPT plasmas resemble stable cones is not (always) correct; instead it is found that the plasmas we investigated are tiny filaments that rotate on the mantle of a virtual cone. However, the fine-structure, especially the thickness, of these filaments is not substantially smaller than that of the virtual cone. By applying the theory-experiment comparison to the filament we found that the disagreement is even worse than what we found for the cone. It is therefore inevitable to conclude that the main proposition of the GPM is incorrect. Apparently the plasma is not diffusive in nature; that is, the main loss process of charged particles is not provided by diffusion but by local chemistry. Swirling in a cool nitrogen-containing environment favors the production of molecular ions such as Ar2+ and N2+ inside the plasma filament. The destruction of these molecular ions leads to recombination frequencies that are more than a factor 100 larger than what ambipolar diffusion can provide. Thus we are dealing with another plasma class and it is useful to divide plasmas into diffusive and reactive plasmas. The well-known ICP belongs to the first class; the MPT to the second.