Comparison of surface vacuum ultraviolet emissions with resonance level number densities. I. Argon plasmas

Abstract

Vacuum ultraviolet (VUV) photons emitted from excited atomic states are ubiquitous in material processing plasmas. The highly energetic photons can induce surface damage by driving surface reactions, disordering surface regions, and affecting bonds in the bulk material. In argon plasmas, the VUV emissions are due to the decay of the 1s4 and 1s2 principal resonance levels with emission wavelengths of 104.8 and 106.7 nm, respectively. The authors have measured the number densities of atoms in the two resonance levels using both white light optical absorption spectroscopy and radiation-trapping induced changes in the 3p54p→3p54s branching fractions measured via visible/near-infrared optical emission spectroscopy in an argon inductively coupled plasma as a function of both pressure and power. An emission model that takes into account radiation trapping was used to calculate the VUV emission rate. The model results were compared to experimental measurements made with a National Institute of Standards and Technology-calibrated VUV photodiode. The photodiode and model results are in generally good accord and reveal a strong dependence on the neutral gas temperature.