The Study of Ar I and Ne I Spectral Line Shapes in the Cathode Sheath Region of an Abnormal Glow Discharge

Abstract

The cathode sheath (CS) region is the most important part of abnormal glow discharge (GD), where various processes relevant for the operation and application occur. The most important parameter of the CS is the distribution of electric field strength E which is of crucial importance for charged particles acceleration, their trajectories, kinetic energies, and collisions with other particles and cathode sputtering. All these processes are relevant for the operation of GD as well as for numerous applications in the field of spectroscopic analysis, plasma etching, thin film deposition, and depth profiling of cathode material. Thus, the importance of non-perturbing technique for E distribution measurement in the CS region was recognized long time ago. Within this article, a simple technique based on standard optical emission spectroscopy (OES) and typical laboratory equipment has been used for E mapping in the CS region of an abnormal glow discharge.