Emission characteristics of plasma of a transverse volume discharge in mixtures of helium, argon, and krypton with sulfur hexafluoride

Abstract

The emission characteristics of the plasma of repetitively pulsed spontaneous UV-VUV radiation sources on the basis of ArF* (193 nm) and KrF* (249 nm) molecules, and the products of decomposition of sulfur hexafluoride molecules pumped by a transverse volume discharge in a mixture of inert gases with sulfur hexafluoride molecules have been investigated. The discharge emission spectra in the range of 190–780 nm at the low-current and high-current stages of the transverse discharge, the time characteristics of the voltage across the electrodes, the pump current, and the emission of excimer molecules and the products of decomposition of sulfur hexafluoride have been studied. It is shown that, in the gas-static operation mode of the radiator at the number of discharge pulses smaller than 103, the 193-nm ArF* and 249-nm KrF* bands are main in the emission spectrum. Upon further operation of the radiator, a spectral continuum is formed on the basis of sulfur molecular bands in the range 260–550 nm.