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Abstract

In this article the capacitive pickup of magnetic fluctuation probes for plasma applications is studied. The nine most commonly used probe designs are compared with respect to their capacitive pickup rejection, magnetic sensitivity, and minimum plasma disturbance. For absolute calibration, well defined electric and magnetic field fluctuations are produced separately in a Faraday cup and in a Helmholtz magnetic field coil configuration, respectively. A sample measurement in a radio frequency helicon plasma demonstrates that the optimum probe design is well suited for measuring magnetic fluctuations in a plasma environment. (C) 2002 American Institute of Physics.