Effect of metastable atom reactions on the electron energy probability functions in afterglows

Abstract

Time resolved electron densities, temperatures and energy probability functions (EEPFs) of modulated-power glow discharges through argon and helium in the Gaseous Electronics Conference reference reactor have been measured using an RF compensated Langmuir probe and a microwave interferometer. RF power was capacitively coupled to the glow and square wave amplitude modulated with a 50% duty cycle and 100% modulation depth. We found that a metastable-metastable ionization reaction can produce energetic electrons during the afterglow. This reaction can also cause the electron density to increase during the afterglow despite the RF excitation being off. The electron density as a function of time can be modelled and the result is an estimated metastable atom density as a function of time. The hot electrons in the EEPF can also be modelled, but the modelling result does not fit the experimental EEPF until the smoothing of the EEPF caused by the experimental method is taken into account. This smoothing of the EEPF can be accounted for using the Druyvesteyn method formula and indicates that accurate measurements of the EEPF in very low electron temperature plasmas can become difficult. In effect, one should have some knowledge of the shape of the EEPF before the experiment in order to obtain an accurate measurement. The electron density and EEPF results become self-consistent once the smoothing is taken into account. By moving the Langmuir probe along the diameter of the chamber it was determined that the electron density decreases more quickly between the electrodes than outside the electrode edges. This causes the plasma density profile in argon to becomes doughnut shaped during the afterglow and causes the glow to re-ignite from the edges into the centre. The electron temperature at re-ignition in helium discharges can become larger than that at steady state in the active glow. It quickly relaxes to the steady state value. This last effect is not nearly as pronounced in argon.