The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
May. 29, 2012
Filed:
Sep. 30, 2011
David R. Boris, Washington, DC (US);
David D. Blackwell, Alexandria, VA (US);
David N. Walker, Arlington, VA (US);
Richard F. Fernsler, Annandale, VA (US);
Scott G. Walton, Fairfax, VA (US);
David R. Boris, Washington, DC (US);
David D. Blackwell, Alexandria, VA (US);
David N. Walker, Arlington, VA (US);
Richard F. Fernsler, Annandale, VA (US);
Scott G. Walton, Fairfax, VA (US);
The United States of America, as represented by the Secretary of the Navy, Washington, DC (US);
Abstract
An apparatus and method for determining plasma parameters such as plasma electron density n. The probe apparatus includes an LC resonance probe comprising an inductive element and a capacitive element connected in series. The capacitive element of the probe can be in the form of a parallel plate capacitor, a cylindrical capacitor, a spherical capacitor, or any other suitable capacitor. The configuration of the probe apparatus gives it a characteristic resonance frequency ωwhich can be determined by a circuit analysis device. When the capacitive element of the probe apparatus is placed in a plasma, the probe exhibits a new resonance frequency ω, which is different from ωbecause of the dielectric constant ∈ of the plasma. The difference in resonance frequencies can be used to determine plasma density n, where