Dielectric covered hairpin probe for its application in reactive plasmas

The hairpin probe is a well known technique for measuring local electron density in low temperature plasmas. In reactive plasmas, the probe characteristics are affected by surface sputtering, contamination, and secondary electron emission. At higher densities, the plasma absorbs the entire electromagnetic energy of hairpin and hence limits the density measurements. These issues can be resolved by covering the hairpin surface with a thin layer of dielectric. In this letter, the dielectric contribution to the probe characteristics is incorporated in a theory which is experimentally verified. The dielectric covering improves the performance of probe and also allows the hairpin tip to survive in reactive plasma where classical electrical probes are easily damaged.