The influence of nitrogen injection on the formation of a-C:H films in areas far away from the plasma as well as close to the plasma boundary was studied in the PSI-2 device for collector temperatures between 310 and 350 K. The balance between deposition and erosion determines the net growth rate. Small amounts of nitrogen (Φ(N 2 ) ≈ Φ(CH 4 ) ≈ 2% Φ(H 2 )) strongly reduce the net growth rate in H 2 /CH 4 mixtures. While N 2 injection does not influence erosion far away from the plasma it increases erosion close to the plasma boundary. The experiments show clear evidence for a scavenger effect due to the injected nitrogen. The conversion from N 2 to active species takes place in the hot plasma region.
Hydrocarbons were injected into the plasma generator PSI II to study the formation of deposition layers. The experimental results are compared with those obtained from ERO-code modeling. Using available data of rate and sticking coefficients in the simulations the agreement is not satisfying. New experimental results point to a hydrocarbon decomposition considerably stronger than predicted. Furthermore the inclusion of the energy dependence of the sticking coefficients and a check of the atomic data appears to be necessary.
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