Enhanced formation of negative ions by electron attachment to highly excited molecules in a flowing afterglow plasma
- Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tennessee 37831-6122 (United States)
Preliminary evidence for efficient negative-ion formation using a plasma mixing scheme was reported in a recent letter [L. A. Pinnaduwage, W. Ding, and D. L. McCorkle, Appl. Phys. Lett. {bold 71}, 3634 (1997)]. In the present article we confirm the negative ion formation using a probe-assisted photodetachment technique and estimate rate constants for electron attachment to electronically excited CH{sub 4} and NO in a flowing afterglow plasma. It is shown that enhanced electron attachment to molecules in highly excited states populated via excitation transfer from rare gas metastables is responsible for the observed negative ion formation. Implications for plasma processing and plasma remediation discharges are also discussed. {copyright} {ital 1998 American Institute of Physics.}
- OSTI ID:
- 641599
- Journal Information:
- Journal of Applied Physics, Journal Name: Journal of Applied Physics Journal Issue: 6 Vol. 84; ISSN JAPIAU; ISSN 0021-8979
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Similar Records
Electron attachment to excited states of silane: Implications for plasma processing discharges
Measurements of negative ion density in high-density oxygen plasmas by probe-assisted laser photodetachment