A NOVEL SYSTEM FOR STUDIES OF DC DISCHARGE IN CYLINDRICAL MAGNETRON J.F. Behnke, P. Kudrna University of Greifswald, Institute for Physics, Domstrasse 10a, 17489 Greifswald, Germany J. Rusz, M. Tich´ y Charles University in Prague, Faculty of Mathematics and Physics, Department of Electronics and Vacuum Physics, V Holeˇ soviˇ ck´ ach 2, 180 00 Praha 8, Czech Republic Received 10 April 2000; final version 6 June 2000 In a cylindrical magnetron, the electric field is applied in the radial direction and the magnetic field in the axial direction. In this paper, we present a description of a novel construction of cylindrical magnetron developed in the University of Greifswald, FRG. The system has been designed for experimental and computer-modelling studies of the DC discharge in crossed electric and magnetic fields in cylindrical geometry. In order to approach conditions close to an infinitely long system, and hence, to enable a more precise comparison with 1-D simulations, the ratio of the vessel length to the distance between the cathode and the anode has been chosen equal to 20. Six evenly distributed coils create the axial magnetic field. The homogeneity of the magnetic field ± 0.2 % has been achieved over the whole discharge vessel length 300 mm. The system is equipped with a rotable planar Langmuir probe movable in the radial direction. Measurements of the axial dependencies of plasma parameters are enabled by positioning the Langmuir probe in one of the 5 probe ports located between each couple of coils. We present the results of preliminary measurements of the radial and axial profiles of the plasma density and the mean electron energy. 1 Introduction Cylindrical magnetrons are nowadays used for deposition of thin films with special optical properties and for high-temperature superconducting thin films [1, 2, 3, 4]. Moreover, as a relatively simple system, the DC discharge in a cylindrical magnetron offers a possibility to create a numerical model and compare its results with experiment. During the past several years, notable progress has been made in the description of the DC discharge in a cylindrical magnetron at the University of Greifswald, FRG; see e.g. [5, 6, 7, 8]. In these studies, an extensive experimental investigation of the DC discharge in a cylindrical magnetron system by Langmuir probes, as well as kinetic and fluid modelling, have been performed. The cylindrical magnetron used in these studies was 110 mm in length and 30 mm in diameter. The comparison of the measured and calculated results revealed a satisfactory agreement in most of the investigated plasma parameters, namely, the plasma density, the electron mean energy, and the electron energy distribution function. Nevertheless, Czechoslovak Journal of Physics, Vol. 50 (2000), Suppl. S3 419