Particulate formation and dusty plasma behaviour in argon-silane RF discharge

This paper presents an overview of research on a dusty plasma as obtained in a low-pressure discharge. Some results have been already published in parts and this review includes recent insights obtained in the properties of dusty plasmas, as given in an invited talk at XIth ESCAMPIG Conference in St Petersburg. Different aspects connected to the formation of particulates in an argon-silane RF reactor have been studied in this work. The first one concerns the formation of the particulates: their size kinetics and structural characteristics give evidence of a multistep growth process. The second concerns the influence of the presence of particles on plasma parameters and discharge properties: the experimental data are in good agreement with predictions of theoretical models and both reveal the strong influence of the dust on plasma physics and chemistry. The last aspect concerns the specific interest of dusty plasmas as a source of new basic problems in plasma physics. In our conditions, where high concentrations of particles are easily achieved, it is shown that the cloud of negatively charged dust particles forms a coulombian liquid while the positive ions play the role of a neutralizing background.