Spatial distributions of ion-species in a large-volume inductively coupled plasma source

Characterization of an inductively coupled N2plasma using sensitive diode laser spectroscopy

“…Figure 3(a) shows a typical current/voltage response of the planar probe, while figure 3(b) shows corresponding ion flux measurements, φ, at 10 mTorr, and figure 3(c) shows ion flux measurements as a function of pressure at 100 W, extracted from the saturation current, I sat , using equation ( 1), where A is the probe area; again the change to inductive coupling is evident in the large increase in N + 2 flux. If the EEDF is assumed to be Maxwellian, the electron temperatures can be extracted from the falloff of the I/V curve using equation (2), where I sat is the saturation current, V 0 the floating potential and T e is the average electron energy in electronvolt [21]. T e is related to the electron temperature, θ el , by eT e = 3 2 kθ el , where e is the electron charge and k is the Boltzmann constant.…”

“…Inductively coupled plasmas (ICPs) are widely used in industry because of their ability to produce high and spatially uniform concentrations of reactive species such as atoms, free radicals and ions at low pressures (typically 10 10 -10 12 cm −3 at a pressure of 100 mTorr). One of the most important applications is that of a nitrogen plasma, used in the surface modification of metals and polymers [1][2][3], and much effort has been made to try to understand the mechanisms for the formation and loss of the reactive species, namely N atoms, electronically and vibrationally excited N 2 molecules and N + 2 ions. Experimentally this requires measurements of their concentrations and energy distributions as a function of plasma parameters, and in principle such measurements can be carried out for all plasma species.…”

Planar laser-induced fluorescence (PLIF) measurements of a pulsed electrothermal plasma jet

“…Such devices include laser ablation, (Erlich and Taso, 1989;Lyman, 1988;Estler et aI., 1991;Mulser et aI., 1973;Hopkins et aI., 1983;Rohlfing, 1984) plasma coating, (Cho et aI., 2001;Macek et aI., 2001;Okuji ;Basner, 2000) laboratory burners, (Mcenally and Pfefferle, 1998;Arnold et aI., 2000) automobile engines, (Case and Hofeldt, 1996;Zhao et aI., 1992) and plasma-jet facility driven by high voltage discharge inside a small cavity. (Hankins et al, 1998;1997;Gilligan et al, 1991 ;Kohel et was used between two electrodes to initiate the discharge.…”