Characterization of cyclic dust growth in a low-pressure, radio-frequency driven argon-hexamethyldisiloxane plasma

In a dusty plasma, nanometer-sized solid dust particles can be grown by the polymerization of plasma species from a reactive precursor gas. This type of plasma can be found in large-scale astrophysical objects, as well as in semiconductor manufacturing and material processing. In a laboratory environment, the plasma parameters can be carefully controlled and the dynamics of dust growth as well as the interaction between the plasma and the dust can be studied. In this work, we investigate the cyclic growth of dust particles in a low-pressure, radio-frequency driven argon-hexamethyldisiloxane plasma using a multitude of diagnostics in a time-synchronized fashion. The combination of microwave cavity resonance spectroscopy, plasma impedance measurements, laser light scattering, laser light extinction measurements and optical emission spectroscopy offers a broad view on the temporal behavior of the plasma in concert with the plasma-grown dust particles. We have studied the variation of several discharge parameters such as plasma power and hexamethyldisiloxane content. Therefore, this multi-diagnostic approach contributes to the fundamental understanding of the mechanisms behind dust growth in low-pressure plasmas.