Study of Ar and Ar-CO2 microwave surfaguide discharges by optical spectroscopy

A surfaguide microwave discharge operating at 2.45 GHz in Ar and Ar-CO2 mixtures is studied using diagnostics methods based on optical emission spectroscopy. The population densities of Ar metastable and resonant states of the lowest group of excited levels (1s(x)) are investigated for several experimental conditions using the self-absorption technique. It is found that the densities of these levels, ranging from 10(17) to 10(16) m(-3) for the pure Ar case, are dependent on the discharge pressure and applied power. The electron temperature and electron density are calculated via the balances of creation/loss mechanisms of radiative and metastable levels. In the range of the studied experimental conditions (50-300 W of applied power and 0.5-6 Torr of gas pressure), the results have shown that lower values of electron temperature correspond to higher values of power and pressure in the discharge. Adding CO2 to the argon plasma results in a considerable decrease (about 3 orders of magnitude) of the Ar metastable atom density. The feasibility of using the ratio of two Ar emission line intensities to measure the electron temperature in CO2 discharges with small Ar admixtures is studied. Published by AIP Publishing.