Analytic solution for the joint Bohm sheath and pre-sheath potential profile AIP/123-QED

Analytic solution for the joint Bohm sheath and pre-sheath potential profile
P. Martin,1, a) F. Maass,1 F. A. Calderon,2 and F. Lastra1
1)
Departmento de Fı́sica, Universidad de Antofagasta, Av. Angamos 601,
Antofagasta, Chile
2)
Departmento de Fı́sica, Universidad Católica del Norte, Av. Angamos 0610,
Antofagasta, Chile

(Dated: 7 March 2019)

An analytic solution is presented in this paper for the electric potential nearby a wall
in a confined plasma. This is well fitted for both sheath and pre-sheath regions. In
the sheath region, the potential is well adapted to the differential equation proposed
by Bohm. Following to the pre-sheath region the potential is also well suited decaying
to the zero electric field in the plasma, which is a physical condition. The potential
is also valid for any value of the parameter K measuring the dimensionless Bohm
velocity.

PACS numbers: Valid PACS appear here

Keywords: Suggested keywords

a)
Electronic mail: pablo.martin@uantof.cl, fernando.maass@uantof.cl.

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Analytic solution for the joint Bohm sheath and pre-sheath potential profile

I. INTRODUCTION

The plasma is separated by a wall containing a peculiar region denoted as plasma sheath,
which is followed by a pre-sheath region. The most usual model to describe the plasma
over this region is the so-called Bohm plasma sheath1 . This is largely described in most
Plasma Physics books2–4 , and also in those related to industrial applications5 . There are
also some complementary and review papers6–10 . It is also interesting to see the recent work
of Riemann, where an approximation of the plasma sheath has also been derived11 . In this
paper, the analysis is performed in the most simple case, where magnetic fields, kinetic
effects and more complicated situations have not been considered.
There is a potential drop between the neutral plasma and the entrance of the sheath. In the
sheath region the number of ions is higher than the electron density, due in part to the large
reflection of electrons by the negative potential of the wall. The ion density is determined
by the continuity equation as well as the energy conservation equation. In which the cold
ion approximation has been taken, where Ti llTe . So, for the electrons it is assumed that
they follow a Boltzmann distribution, and for the ions the cold fluid approach is adopted.
The well- known differential equation in dimensionless variables is,

" #
d2 φ 1
= − e−φ − p (1)
dy 2 1 + φ/K
where dimensionless units are taken, thus

eϕ
φ=− (2a)
kB Te

Here (-e) is the electron charge, kB is the Boltzman constant and Te is the electron temper-
ature in the plain plasma. The dimensionless distance y = x/λD , where x is the distance
measured from the wall, λD is the plasma Debye length, and K is a dimensionless quantity
measuring the characteristic Bohm plasma velocity v,
1
r
0 kB Te 2
mv 2
λD = ; K= , (2b)
ne e 2 kB Te

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Analytic solution for the joint Bohm sheath and pre-sheath potential profile

where ne is the characteristic charge particle density. If it is assumed (as Bohm did)
that the ions enter the sheath region with the sound velocity then K = 1/2. However, it is
interesting to recall that Bohm obtained a relation with an inequality sign1 , v ≥ vBohm =
(kB Te /m)1/2 .
Here the dimensionless potential φ is positive, because of the minus sign in its definition. On
the other hand, the distance x is measured from the wall, and not from the plane separating
sheath and pre-sheath. The size of the sheath is usually considered z ≈ d, where d is the
place where the derivative of the potential becomes zero.
In this paper, the treatment is done in the most simple way, thus the magnetic field for
instance has not been included, neither hot plasma flow, and the wall is considered as a
plane. One of the problems with the solution of Bohm equation for the sheath region is
that this does not verify the condition for zero electric field in the plasma. Therefore, It has
been widely accepted to provide a second description for the so called artificially created
pre-sheath region, in which it is recovered a smooth continuation of the potential profile,
as it has been experimentally observed12,13 .There are two main goals in this work, first is
to find a solution to the Bohm sheath equation, which is straight forward to calculate, and
with high accuracy in the region where the solution has physical sense, that is, near the
wall. However, there is a second purpose, which is to avoid the problems in the region where
the solution is non physical, in such a way, that the solution here could join smoothly to
the plasma potential. This will be done first looking for a adequate form of the solution,
and second determining the right parameters mainly for the conditions in the region near
the wall. The precise connection between the plasma sheath and the plasma, using or not a
pre-sheath region, is a very complex problem, see for instance Ref.14,15 , there is not general
agreement or solution to this problem. This is the reason that we have considered a solution
for the sheath a pre-sheath region in such a way that the adjustment to the good part of
the well known sheath solution is adequate as well as zero electric field in the connection to
the plasma region.

II. THEORETICAL TREATMENT AND DISCUSSION

Equation (1) can be integrated once to obtain a first order differential equation, but after
that it must be solved numerically. Yet, in the numerical solution you obtain x as a function

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Analytic solution for the joint Bohm sheath and pre-sheath potential profile

of φ, when it is more convenient to obtain φ as a function of x. Several attempts have

been made to perform this inversion7,11 . However, a close solution for both regions, sheath
and pre-sheath has not been offered yet. This is the reason that it is useful to obtain a
complete accurate approximation for φ as a function of y, as it is shown here. The simplest
approximation is that of exponential type φ = φw exp−αy as shown in the literature4 , but
as K approaches the Bohm limit, K = 1/2, the decay distance becomes large. A first
integration of Eq. (1), considering φ as the integration variable and dφ/dy = 0 for φ = 0,
leads to
1 dφ p
√ = − F (φ) (3)
2 dy
with r
φ 2K − 1 2 3 − 4K 2 3
F (φ) = 2K 1+− 2K + e−φ − 1 = φ + φ + ... (4)
K 4K 24K 2
The simplest approximation is obtained by keeping only the first term of the series
expansion4 . However the accuracy of this approximation is not good, and furthermore
the approximation fails for K ≤ 1/2, being the so-called Bohm limit K = 1/2. Better
approximations can be obtained using more terms of the series11,16 . The accuracy of these
approximations are better that in Eq (1). In the last approximation of the authors16 , all
the parameters of the approximation are function of K only, which is not convenient be-
cause the numerical calculation shows that the slope at the origin is also a function of the
wall potential φw . Now, all the parameters will be functions of K, φw . The form of the
approximation to be determined will be,
e−λy
φ̃ = φw (5)
1 + β(e−λy − 1)
where φw is the wall potential, this is, φ̃(0) = φw . In this way, we are sure than for large
values of y, the potential will be the plasma potential, which must be zero for φ(∞). The
parameters to determine in this approximation are λ and β. Considering the derivatives of
Eq (1), it is obtained
dφ̃ λ(β − 1)e−λy
= φw (6)
dy [1 + β(e−λy − 1)2 ]
and
d2 φ̃ λ2 (β − 1)2 e−λy + λ2 β(β − 1)e−2λy
= φw (7)
dy 2 [1 + β(e−λy − 1)]3
Just in the wall, it is found 
dφ̃ 
= λ(β − 1)φw (8)
dy y=0

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Analytic solution for the joint Bohm sheath and pre-sheath potential profile

and
d2 φ 

= λ2 (β − 1)(2β − 1)φw (9)
dy 2 y=0
On the other hand, it is known by Eq’s (3) and (1) that
s
  1/2
1 dφ  p φw
√ = − F (φw ) = − 2K 1 + − 2K + e−φw − 1 (10)
2 dy y=0 K

and
d2 φ 

1
2
=q − e−φw = φw f (φw ) (11)
dy y=0
1+ φw
K

Now by equalizing Eqs.(8) and (10, and Eqs.(9) and (11), it is obtained
p
2F (φw )
λ(β − 1) = − (12)
φw

and
λ2 (β − 1)(2β − 1) = f (φw ) (13)

From here the values of λ and β are obtained, giving

φ2w f (φw ) − 2F (φw )

β= (14)
φ2w f (φw ) − 4F (φw )

and
4F (φw ) − φ2w f (φw )
λ= p (15)
φw 2F (φw )
These parameters are now introduced in Eq (5), and in this way the new approximation
is obtained
A plot of the solution of Eq. (1) (dashed line), and the present solution (full line) are
shown in Fig.1, for K = 0.5 and φw = 5. It is clear that both curves are coincident near
the wall, however they become different, when the solution of Eq. (1) is near the minimum
of the curve. This is just when the solution is not right, because the potential begins to
increase. However, the new solution is always decreasing, showing a better approximation
to the physical system, exactly where the first solution is not right. In figure 2, the values
of φw = 4 and φw = 6 are considered for K = 0.5. The behavior is similar to the case of
φw = 5, thought now the minimum of the solution for the differential equation for φw = 6
present a better behavior than for φw = 5, because the minimum of the curve is closer to
the x-axis. However the solution now proposed has a better behavior, and the electric field

5
Analytic solution for the joint Bohm sheath and pre-sheath potential profile

φ,Φ
4

0
-12 -10 -8 -6 -4 -2 0
y

FIG. 1. Numerical solution φ (dashed line) of differential equation, Eq.(1), and proposed analytic
function φ̃ (full line), Eq.(5), for K = 0.5 and φw = 5 as a function of the dimensionless distance y.

6
5
5

4
4

3
3

2
2

1 1

2 4 6 8 10 2 4 6 8 10

FIG. 2. Numerical solutions φ (dashed line) of differential equation, Eq.(1), and proposed analytic
functions φ̃ (full line), Eq.(5), for K = 0.5 and φw = 4 (left),φw = 6(right) as a function of the
dimensionless distance y .

2 4 6 8 10

FIG. 3. Numerical solution φ (dashed line), Eq.(1), and proposed analytic functions φ̃ (full line),
Eq.(5), for K = 0.58 as a function of the dimensionless distance y.

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Analytic solution for the joint Bohm sheath and pre-sheath potential profile

φ 5

Φ
6 4

5
3

2
3

2 1

1
0
-12 -10 -8 -6 -4 -2 0

2 4 6 8 10 y

FIG. 4. Numerical solutions φ (dashed line) of differential equation, Eq.(1), and proposed analytic
functions φ̃ (full line), Eq.(5), for K = 0.58 and φw = 4 (left),φw = 6(right) as a function of the
dimensionless distance y .

2 4 6 8 10

FIG. 5. Numerical solution φ (dashed line), Eq.(1), and proposed analytic functions φ̃ (full line),
Eq.(5), for K = 0.42 and φw = 5 as a function of the dimensionless distance y.

5 6

5
4

4
3

2
2

1
1

2 4 6 8 10 2 4 6 8 10

FIG. 6. Numerical solutions φ (dashed line) of differential equation, Eq.(1), and proposed analytic
functions φ̃ (full line), Eq.(5), for K = 0.42 and φw = 4 (left),φw = 6(right) as a function of the
dimensionless distance y .

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Analytic solution for the joint Bohm sheath and pre-sheath potential profile

φw β λ

5 0.3071 0.4696
K=0.5 4 0.2760 0.4928
6 0.3271 0.4445

5 0.3121 0.4942
K=0.58 4 0.2838 0.5219

6 0.3312 0.4661

5 0.2990 0.4391
K=0.42 4 0.2636 0.4563

6 0.3219 0.4181

TABLE I. Values of the parameters λ and β for K = 0.5; 0.42; 0.58, and dimensionless potentials
φw = 5, 4, 6.

as well as the potential are zero in the plasma. Though the Bohm value of K = 0.5 is the
most important one, but it is also interesting to look for values nearby, as K = 0.42 and
K = 0.58. The results are shown in the figures 3 and 4, as well as figures 5 and 6. The
different values of K are analyzed, when φW = 4, 5, 6. In the case of K = 0.58, the figure
4 (right) shows that the minimum of the differential equation solution is just near zero for
φw = 6, but the increasing of the potential after that is also present. The behavior of the
solution here presented is always right, and the potential and electric field become zero at
the plasma, and it has also a good behavior near the wall.
The values of the parameters Λ and β used in the above figures are shown in Table1
From the table, it is clear that the slope at the wall λ increases with K and decreases
with the value of φw . On the other hand, the parameter β increases with K and φw .
The approximation here presented was obtained using the usual equation for the sheath
or Bohm treatment. It is clear that the approximation and the numerical solution are al-
most coincident in the sheath region, which is the most important region. However later
dφ
the numerical solution of the equation is not right, since dt
becomes zero and the solution
increases instead of decreasing. However the behaviour of the present solution is now differ-
ent form the actual function far from the wall. This behaves there, like the potential in the
pre-sheath region.

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Analytic solution for the joint Bohm sheath and pre-sheath potential profile

III. CONCLUSION

A new analytic for the Bohm sheath potential [1] has been presented, which has important
advantages with previous ones [1,4-6, 11-13], which can be summarized as: the accuracy of
the new solution is better than previous published ones; and it is a simple approach, with
only two parameters to be determined; which are functions of K as well as phiw (this is an
important advantage with respect to approximations where the parameters to determine are
only functions of K). Now, sheath and pre-sheath are included in a unique solution. The
present treatment showed here has been performed using the most basic model. However, a
more elaborated treatment, which may include magnetic field could be considered in future
works.

REFERENCES

1
D. Bohm (McGraw-Hill, New York, 1949) Chap. three.
2
P. M. Bellan, Fundamentals of Plasma Physics (Cambridge University Press, Cambridge,
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3
F. F. Chen, Introduction to plasma physics and controlled fusion (Plemum Press, New
York and London, 2010) p. 490.
4
R. D. Hazeltine and F. Waelbroeck, The framework of plasma physics (Westview Press,
2004) p. 326.
5
J. R. Roth, Industrial plasma engineering: Volume 1: Principles, reprinted ed. (1995) p.
339.
6
P. Stangeby and G. McCracken, Nuclear Fusion 30, 1225 (1990).
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K.-U. Riemann, Journal of Physics D: Applied Physics 24, 493 (1991).
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K.-U. Riemann, Plasma Sources Science and Technology 18, 014006 (2009).
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J. E. Allen, Plasma Sources Science and Technology 18, 014004 (2009).
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J. Ou and X. Zhao, Contributions to Plasma Physics 57, 50 (2017).
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K.-U. Riemann, Plasma Sources Science and Technology 18, 014007 (2009).
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N. Ohno, A. Komori, M. Tanaka, and Y. Kawai, Physics of Fluids B: Plasma Physics 3,
228 (1991).
13
L. Oksuz and N. Hershkowitz, Physical Review Letters 89, 145001 (2002).

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Analytic solution for the joint Bohm sheath and pre-sheath potential profile

14
R. Franklin, IEEE Transactions on Plasma Science 30, 352 (2002).
15
N. Sternberg and V. Godyak, IEEE Transactions on Plasma Science 31, 665 (2003).
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P. Martin, F. Maass-Artigas, and L. Cortés-Vega, Journal of Physics: Conference Series
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