Revealing an intermediate region between the collisional radiofrequency plasma bulk and its sheath

Experimental evidence of the existence of an intermediate region between a capacitively coupled plasma and the collisional space-charge region at its borders is presented. This proof is generated by monitoring—in an airplane carrying out parabolic flights—the trajectory of plasma-confined microparticles. Based on only primary data and without the need for a sophisticated model, our analysis concludes a sharply marked transition from the sheath region into another region with a significantly lower—yet nonzero—space-charge density, i.e., a region which is often called the presheath.