Rotational and translational temperature equilibrium in an inductively coupled plasma
- Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, and Center for Energy Research, University of California--San Diego, 9500 Gilman Drive, La Jolla, California 92093-0417 (United States)
Rotational temperature has been used widely as neutral gas temperature measurement in different types of plasmas (electron cyclotron resonance, inductively coupled plasma, helicon, hollow cathode, etc.), and has been assumed to be in equilibrium with translational temperature. The direct experimental comparison of rotational and translational temperature in low-temperature plasmas has not been reported. In this research, optical emission spectroscopy is used to measure the neutral gas rotational temperature, T{sub rot}, from the second-positive band of a nitrogen molecule (380 nm). The results are compared with the Doppler-broadened translational temperature, T{sub trans}, of Ar (750 nm) and He (587 nm), determined with a high-resolution spectrometer at various partial pressures of N{sub 2} in Ar/N{sub 2} and He/N{sub 2} plasmas. The results demonstrated that T{sub rot} and T{sub trans} are in equilibrium in the conditions [10{sup 10}<n{sub e}(cm{sup -3})<5x10{sup 12}, 1<T{sub e}(eV)<5, 1<p{sub fill}(mTorr)<50] of our plasma experiment.
- OSTI ID:
- 20853538
- Journal Information:
- Journal of Vacuum Science and Technology. A, International Journal Devoted to Vacuum, Surfaces, and Films, Vol. 24, Issue 5; Other Information: DOI: 10.1116/1.2244539; (c) 2006 American Vacuum Society; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 1553-1813
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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