Patent Number: 047675918
Section: claims

1. A probe for determining the energy and flux of particles in a plasma, comprising: a thin annealed carbon film adapted to be brought into contact with a plasma, said film having an electrical resistance which is related to the number of plasma particles impacting said film;  means for passing an electrical current through said film; and  means for determining the electrical resistance of said film to the current therethrough.  said carbon film comprising a portion thereof which is brought into contact with the plasma; and  one of said metal contacts and one of said additional metal contacts is located on each side of said portion.  exposing a carbon probe to said plasma, said probe having an electrical resistance which is related to the number of particles impacting said probe;  passing an electrical current through said probe; and  determining the electrical resistance of said probe to the current therethrough, whereby said energy and flux may be determined. 2. A probe as in claim 1, wherein said means for passing an electrical current through said carbon film comprises metal contacts in electrical contact with said film. 3. A probe as in claim 2, further comprising a substrate for supporting said contacts and said carbon film. 4. A probe as in claim 3, wherein said metal contacts comprise metal films deposited on said substrate, and said carbon film is deposited on said substrate in electrical contact with said metal films. 5. A probe as in claim 2, wherein said means for determining the electrical resistance of said carbon film comprises additional metal contacts in electrical contact with said carbon film. 6. A probe as in claim 5, comprising a substrate for supporting said metal contacts, said additional metal contacts and said carbon film, said metal contacts and said additional metal contacts comprising metal films deposited on said substrate and said carbon film is deposited on said substrate in electrical contact with said metal films. 7. A probe as in claim 5, comprising two of said metal contacts and two of said additional metal contacts; 8. A probe as in claim 1, further comprising a thin insulating layer means for shielding said carbon film from low energy plasma particles. 9. A probe as in claim 8, wherein said carbon layer has a thickness of less than 100 nanometers, and said insulating layer means consists of a silicon layer having a thickness of 20 nanometers, whereby said insulating layer shields said film from hydrogen particles having an energy below about 500 eV. 10. A probe as in claim 8, wherein said carbon layer has a thickness of less than 100 nanometers, and said insulating layer means consists of a silicon layer having a thickness of 80 nanometers, whereby said insulating layer shields said film from hydrogen particles having an energy below about 2 keV. 11. A method for determining the energy or flux of particles in a plasma, comprising: 12. A method as in claim 11, further comprising shielding said probe from impact by particles having energy falling below a threshold. 13. A method as in claim 12, comprising shielding said probe by applying an insulating layer thereon. 14. A method as in claim 12, comprising shielding said probe by applying a positive bias voltage thereto. 15. A method as in claim 11, further comprising separating charged particles from neutral particles impacting said probe by applying a positive bias voltage to said probe.