A comparison among optical emission spectroscopic methods of determining electron temperature in low pressure argon plasmas

In this article, four kinds of optical emission spectroscopic methods of determining electron temperature are used to investigate the relationship between electron temperature and pressure in the cylindrical plasmas of dc glow discharges at low pressures in laboratory by measuring the relative intensities of ArI lines at various pressures. These methods are developed respectively on the basis of the Fermi-Dirac model, corona model, and two kinds of electron collision cross section models according to the kinetic analysis. Their theoretical bases and the conditions to which they are applicable are reviewed, and their calculation results and fitting errors are compared with each other. The investigation has indicated that the electron temperatures obtained by the four methods become consistent with each other when the pressure increases in the low pressure argon plasmas.

Characteristics of C_2 Radical in CHF_3 and CF_4 Electron Cyclotron Resonance Plasmas Studied by Optical Emission Spectroscopy

The characteristics of CHF3 and CF4 electron cyclotron resonance (ECR) plasma have been studied by optical emission spectroscopy (OES) and Langmuir probe. It is found that C2 radical is one of main compositions in both of the two plasmas. We investigated the relative concentration of C2 radical as a function of F (H) radical and ion density. The formation mechanism of C2 radical is analyzed.

Influence of Additive Gas on Electrical and Optical Characteristics of Non-equilibrium Atmospheric Pressure Argon Plasma Jet

Electrical and optical properties of an argon plasma jet were characterized. In particular, effects of an additive gas, namely nitrogen or oxygen, on these properties were studied in detail. The plasma jet was found to be of a glow-like discharge, which scarcely changed upon the injection of an additive gas, either directly or through a glass capillary. Optical emission spectroscopy characterization revealed that excited argon atoms were the predominant active species in this plasma jet. Metastable argon atoms were highly quenched, and N2（C3yIu） became the main energy carrier following nitrogen injection. When oxygen was added to the afterglow zone through a glass capillary, no significant quenching effect was observed and the number of oxygen atoms decreased with the increase in oxygen concentration. Finally, to demonstrate an application of this plasma jet, a high-density polyethylene surface was treated with argon, argon/nitrogen, and argon/oxygen plasmas.

Diagnosis of gas phase near the substrate surface in diamond film deposition by high-power DC arc plasma jet CVD

Optical emission spectroscopy （OES） was used to study the gas phase composition near the substrate surface during diamond deposition by high-power DC arc plasma jet chemical vapor deposition （CVD）. C2 radical was determined as the main carbon radical in this plasma atmosphere. The deposition parameters, such as substrate temperature, anode-substrate distance, methane concentration, and gas flow rate, were inspected to find out the influence on the gas phase. A strong dependence of the concentrations and distribution of radicals on substrate temperature was confirmed by the design of experiments （DOE）. An explanation for this dependence could be that radicals near the substrate surface may have additional ionization or dissociation and also have recombination, or are consumed on the substrate surface where chemical reactions occur.

Characteristics of Atmospheric Pressure Rotating Gliding Arc Plasmas

In this work, a novel direct current （DC） atmospheric pressure rotating gliding arc （RGA） plasma reactor has been developed for plasma-assisted chemical reactions. The influence of the gas composition and the gas flow rate on the arc dynamic behaviour and the formation of reactive species in the N2 and air gliding arc plasmas has been investigated by means of electrical signals, high speed photography, and optical emission spectroscopic diagnostics. Compared to conventional gliding arc reactors with knife-shaped electrodes which generally require a high flow rate （e.g., 10-20 L/min） to maintain a long arc length and reasonable plasma discharge zone, in this RGA system, a lower gas flow rate （e.g., 2 L/min） can also generate a larger effective plasma reaction zone with a longer arc length for chemical reactions. Two different motion patterns can be clearly observed in the N2 and air RGA plasmas. The time-resolved arc voltage signals show that three different arc dynamic modes, the arc restrike mode, takeover mode, and combined modes, can be clearly identified in the RGA plasmas. The occurrence of different motion and arc dynamic modes is strongly dependent on the composition of the working gas and gas flow rate.