Recombination of chlorine atoms on plasma-conditioned stainless steel surfaces in the presence of adsorbed Cl2

Abstract

We investigated the interactions of atomic and molecular chlorine with plasma-conditioned stainless steel surfaces through both experiments and modelling. The recombination of Cl during adsorption and desorption of Cl2 was characterized using a rotating-substrate technique in which portions of the cylindrical substrate surface are periodically exposed to an inductively coupled chlorine plasma and then to an Auger electron spectrometer in separate, differentially pumped chambers. After several hours of exposure to the Cl2 plasma, the stainless steel substrate became coated with a Si-oxychloride-based layer (Fe : Si : O : Cl ≈ 1 : 13 : 13 : 3) due to chlorine adsorption and the erosion of the silica discharge tube. Desorption of Cl2 from this surface was monitored through measurements of pressure rises in the Auger chamber as a function of substrate rotation frequency. Significant adsorption and desorption of Cl2 was observed with the plasma off, similar to that observed previously on plasma-conditioned anodized aluminium surfaces, but with much faster desorption rates that are most likely attributable to the smoother and non-porous stainless steel surface morphology. When the plasma was turned on, a much larger pressure rise was observed due to Langmuir–Hinshelwood recombination of Cl atoms. Recombination coefficients, γCl, ranged from 0.004 to 0.03 and increased with Cl-to-Cl2 number density ratio. This behaviour was observed previously for anodized aluminium surfaces, and was explained by the blocking of Cl recombination sites by adsorbed Cl2. Application of this variable recombination coefficient to the modelling of high-density chlorine plasmas gives a much better agreement with measured Cl2 percent dissociations compared with predictions obtained with a recombination coefficient that is independent of plasma conditions.