Langmuir Probe - I-V Characteristic of The Debye Sheath

I-V Characteristic of The Debye Sheath

The beginning of Langmuir probe theory is the I-V characteristic of the Debye sheath, that is, the current density flowing to a surface in a plasma as a function of the voltage drop across the sheath. The analysis presented here indicates how the electron temperature, electron density, and plasma potential can be derived from the I-V characteristic. In some situations a more detailed analysis can yield information on the ion density, the ion temperature, or the electron energy distribution function (EEDF) or .