Abstract
The plasma densities generated from a semiconductor bridge (SCB) device employing a capacitor discharge firing set have been measured by a novel diagnostic technique employing a microwave resonator probe. The spatial resolution of the probe is comparable to the separation between the two wires of the transmission lines (${\approx}$3 mm). This method is superior to Langmuir probes in this application because Langmuir probe measurements are affected by sheath effects, small bridge area, and unknown fraction of multiple ions. Measured electron densities are related to the land material and input energy. Although electron densities in the plasma generated by aluminum or tungsten-land SCB devices show a general tendency to increase steadily with power, at the higher energies, the electron densities generated from tungsten-land SCB devices are found to remain constant.
