Measurements of the populations of metastable and resonance levels in the plasma of an RF capacitive discharge in argon

Abstract

The behavior of the populations of two metastable and two lower resonance levels of argon atoms in the plasma of an RF capacitive discharge was studied. The populations were measured by two methods: the method of emission self-absorption and the method based on measurements of the intensity ratios of spectral lines. It is shown that the populations of resonance levels increase with increasing power deposited in the discharge, whereas the populations of metastable levels is independent of the RF power. The distribution of the populations over energy levels is not equilibrium under these conditions. The population kinetics of argon atomic levels in the discharge plasma is simulated numerically. The distribution function of plasma electrons recovered from the measured populations of atomic levels and numerical simulations is found to be non-Maxwellian.