Creation and behavior of radicals and ions in the Acetylene/Argon microwave ECR discharge

Abstract

Formation and number of molecules, radicals, and ions in ECR acetylene/argon discharge is studied as functions of gas flow rate, supplied power, and partial pressure of acetylene. The spectra obtained by neutral mass spectrometry (NMS) exhibit the presence of atomic hydrogen and H2 molecules. The quantity of acetylene ions is rather high in the range of power up to 350 W, but it drops down with increasing power. At higher powers, the change to C2H+ ion takes place and its quantity grows with increasing power. The dependence of the number of C2+, C2H+, C2H2+ on the electron energy is judged by appearance potential mass spectrometry in the energy range 0–100 eV. The obtained findings are useful for the technology of industrial preparation of DLC thin films.