Reduction of sheath electric field by multidielectric slabs in a plasma

Abstract

The properties of plasma sheaths developed along plasma boundaries are investigated analytically, assuming that dielectric slabs are present between electrodes. A collisionless plasma is confined by two planar electrodes. Planar dielectric slabs with finite thickness partition the plasma into many pieces. The sheath electric field is inversely proportional to the sum of 2(1+l)+Δ/ελ, where Δ and ε are the total thickness and the relative dielectric constant respectively of the dielectric slabs, l is the number of slabs and λ is the Debye length of the high-density plasma. In this context, the plasma sheaths may easily be controlled by appropriate choices of dielectric materials and their size.