Characterization of Nitrogen Glow Discharge Plasma via Optical Emission Spectrum Simulation

Optical emission spectroscopy in nitrogen glow discharge plasma is simulated, and the collision excitations and characteristic emissions of the species （N2, N2^＋, N^＋, N） are investigated by a Monte Carlo model for nitrogen molecular gas discharge. The excitation rates of the main excited states are calculated and the corresponding relation and relative magnitude between the distribution of excitation rate of a certain excited state and the distributions of the emission rates of various lines originating from this excited level are also explored. The simulated results are compared with the experimental measurements in two typical discharge conditions. The luminescence mechanism of the line N2^＋： 391.4 nm is explained based on the microscopic plasma processes. The cathode glow in N2 discharge is found to be mainly caused by N^＋ impact excitation and the intensity of cathode glow decreases with the voltage. The corresponding relation between the emission rate or intensity of the 391.4 nm line and the production rate and the density of N2^＋ is also examined.

Generation and Distribution of Fast Atomic Species(N^+,N_f)in Nitrogen Glow Discharge

Using a combination of the Monte Carlo models of fast electrons, of molecular ions （N＋） and of atomic species （N^＋, Nf）, the influence of the discharge pressure （P） and voltage （Vc） on the energy distributions of fast atomic species （N^＋, Nf） produced by e^--N2s and N2^＋- N2s dissociation reactions at the cathode in a nitrogen dc glow discharge was investigated. Both the angular distributions and the density distributions along the radius of the species （N^＋, Nf） produced by the two dissociations at the cathode were calculated. The results show that： （1） there is an optimum discharge condition for P and Vc in order to obtain the species （N^＋, Nf） at the cathode with high a density and energy, （2） when the voltage is above 800 V, the species （N^＋, Nf） bombarding the cathode are mainly produced by the N^＋-N2s dissociation, whereas when the voltage is below 300 V, they are mainly produced by the e-N2s dissociation, and （3） at high Voltages the incident angles of a considerable number of Nf into the cathode are quite small. The density of the species （N^＋ Nf） at the cathode increases with the voltage, and when the pressure goes up to about 133 Pa, it decreases with the increasing pressure.