A new method to measure electron temperature by an emissive probe has been proposed. The method is based on measurement of the functional relationship between the floating potential and the heating voltage of emissive probe. From the measured data of the floating potential change as a function of the heating voltage, the electron temperature could be determined by comparing with the theoretical curve obtained under the assumption of Maxwellian distribution. The overall characteristic of the floating potential change could be explained as a function of the heating voltage. The electron temperatures obtained by the present method were consistent with those measured by the rf-compensated Langmuir probe within the error. These experimental verifications were made in the electron density range of 2.6x10(11)-2.8x10(12) cm(-3). It was stressed that the present method is advantageous in that the probe is operated in a floating condition, hence applicable to plasmas produced in an insulated container.

Ashing properties in a surface-wave mode at 133 Pa and 1 kW with an alumina disk-plate window are investigated by comparison of those in a volume mode with a quartz disk-plate window. In the surface-wave mode, plasma is confined to the alumina window surface area and ashing in a downstream area is carried out mainly by atomic oxygen. The ashing activation energy of 0.42 eV in the surface-wave mode ashing is comparable to 0.5 eV with an ashing condition by atomic oxygen at the ground state [O(3P)](the so-called downstream state). These results indicate that the plasma in the surface-wave mode can realize a downstream ashing condition. On the other hand, ashing with a quartz window was done by plasma, where the activation energy is influenced by built-in high-frequency magnetic field. Moreover, the ashing rate distribution in the surface-wave mode characterized with the alumina window is more uniform than that in the volume mode with the quartz window.

A new method which has recently been reported to measure electron temperature by an emissive probe is applied to radio-frequency (RF) plasmas. In particular, the electron temperature measurements are made, focused on the condition in which the mode transition from the capacitive to the inductive is occurred at the frequency of 13.56 MHz. The method is based on measurement of the functional relationship between the floating potential and the heating voltage of emissive probe. The measured data of the floating potential change as a function of the heating voltage behave quite differently, depending on the plasma mode. It is found that in the inductive mode, the floating potential change is consistent with the theory based on Maxwellian plasma, enabling to determine the electron temperature, while in the capacitive mode, the behavior of floating potential change is fairly complicated, hence non-Maxwellian plasma. With a great advantage of the present method, the electron energy probability function (EEPF) is calculated with the energy resolution of 2.3 kTe/e, and the EEPF thus obtained reveals a bi-Maxwellian in the capacitive mode, while it becomes Maxwellian in the inductive mode after the transition.

We derive an improved prescription for the merging of matrix elements with parton showers, extending the CKKW approach. A flavour-dependent phase space separation criterion is proposed. We show that this new method preserves the logarithmic accuracy of the shower, and that the original proposal can be derived from it. One of the main requirements for the method is a truncated shower algorithm. We outline the corresponding Monte Carlo procedures and apply the new prescription to QCD jet production in e + e − collisions and Drell-Yan lepton pair production. Explicit colour information from matrix elements obtained through colour sampling is incorporated in the merging and the influence of different prescriptions to assign colours in the large N C limit is studied. We assess the systematic uncertainties of the new method.

The frequency dependence of the inductively coupled plasma is experimentally studied using a single-loop antenna. In particular the transition from the capacitive to the inductive coupling mode is examined for the frequencies from 13 to 60 MHz. The results show that the frequency at which the transition from the capacitive to the inductive mode appears at the lowest power is 27 MHz. At the frequency of 60 MHz, the inductive coupling mode does not appear within the power considered. A simple model that includes the two power absorption mechanisms through capacitive coupling and inductive coupling is proposed. It is demonstrated that the electron density at which the absorption energy through inductive coupling exceeds that through capacitive coupling is a key parameter.