van der Rm Ruud Horst

Time and spatially resolved LIF of OH in a plasma filament in atmospheric pressure He–H2O

The production of OH in a nanosecond pulsed filamentary discharge generated in pin–pin geometry in a He–H2O mixture is studied by time and spatially resolved laser-induced fluorescence. Apart from the OH density the gas temperature and the electron density are also measured. Depending on the applied voltage the discharge is in a different mode. The maximum electron densities in the low- (1.3 kV) and high-density (5 kV) modes are 2 × 1021 m−3 and 7 × 1022 m−3, respectively. The gas temperature in both modes does not exceed 600 K. In the low-density mode the maximum OH density is at the centre of the discharge filament, while in the high-density mode the largest OH density is observed on the edge of the discharge. A chemical model is used to obtain an estimate of the absolute OH density. The chemical model also shows that charge exchange and dissociative recombination can explain the production of OH in the case of the high-density mode.

Time-resolved optical emission spectroscopy of nanosecond pulsed discharges in atmospheric pressure N2 and N2/H2O mixtures

In this contribution, nanosecond pulsed discharges in N2 and N2/0.9% H2O at atmospheric pressure (at 300?K) are studied with time-resolved imaging, optical emission spectroscopy and Rayleigh scattering. A 170?ns high-voltage pulse is applied across two pin-shaped electrodes at a frequency of 1?kHz. The discharge consists of three phases: an ignition phase, a spark phase and a recombination phase. During the ignition phase the emission is mainly caused by molecular nitrogen (N2(C?B)). In the spark and recombination phase mainly atomic nitrogen emission is observed. The emission when H2O is added is very similar, except the small contribution of H? and the intensity of the molecular N2(C?B) emission is less.The gas temperature during the ignition phase is about 350 K, during the discharge the gas temperature increases and is 1??s after ignition equal to 750?K. The electron density is obtained by the broadening of the N emission line at 746?nm and, if water is added, the H? line. The electron density reaches densities up to 4???1024?m?3. Addition of water has no significant influence on the gas temperature and electron density.The diagnostics used in this study are described in detail and the validity of different techniques is compared with previously reported results of other groups.

Absolute calibration of OH density in a nanosecond pulsed plasma filament in atmospheric pressure He–H2O: comparison of independent calibration methods

The absolute density of OH radicals generated in a nanosecond pulsed filamentary discharge in atmospheric pressure He +0.84% H2O is measured independently by UV absorption and laser induced fluorescence (LIF) calibrated with Rayleigh scattering. For the calibration of LIF with Rayleigh scattering, two LIF models, with six levels and four levels, are studied to investigate the influence of the rotational and vibrational energy transfers. In addition, a chemical model is used to deduce the OH density in the afterglow from the relative LIF intensity as function of time. The different models show good correspondence and by comparing these different methods, the accuracy and the effect of assumptions on the obtained OH density are discussed in detail. This analysis includes an analysis of the sensitivity to parameters used in the LIF models.

Exploring the electron density in plasmas induced by extreme ultraviolet radiation in argon

The new generation of lithography tools use high energy EUV radiation which ionizes the present background gas due to photoionization. To predict and understand the long term impact on the highly delicate mirrors It is essential to characterize these kinds of EUV-induced plasmas. We measured the electron density evolution in argon gas during and just after irradiation by a short pulse of EUV light at 13.5 nm by applying microwave cavity resonance spectroscopy. Dependencies on EUV pulse energy and gas pressure have been explored over a range relevant for industrial applications. Our experimental results show that the maximum reached electron density depends linearly on pulse energy. A quadratic dependence - caused by photoionization and subsequent electron impact ionization by free electrons - is found from experiments where the gas pressure is varied. This is demonstrated by our theoretical estimates presented in this manuscript as well.

Exploring the temporally resolved electron density evolution in extreme ultra-violet induced plasmas

We measured the electron density in an extreme ultra-violet (EUV) induced plasma. This is achieved in a low-pressure argon plasma by using a method called microwave cavity resonance spectroscopy. The measured electron density just after the EUV pulse is 2.6 × 1016 m−3. This is in good agreement with a theoretical prediction from photo-ionization, which yields a density of 4.5 × 1016 m−3. After the EUV pulse the density slightly increases due to electron impact ionization. The plasma (i.e. electron density) decays in tens of microseconds.

Dynamics of the spatial electron density distribution of EUV-induced plasmas

We studied the temporal evolution of the electron density distribution in a low pressure pulsed plasma induced by high energy extreme ultraviolet (EUV) photons using microwave cavity resonance spectroscopy (MCRS). In principle, MCRS only provides space averaged information about the electron density. However, we demonstrate here the possibility to obtain spatial information by combining multiple resonant modes. It is shown that EUV-induced plasmas, albeit being a rather exotic plasma, can be explained by known plasma physical laws and processes. Two stages of plasma behaviour are observed: first the electron density distribution contracts, after which it expands. It is shown that the contraction is due to cooling of the electrons. The moment when the density distribution starts to expand is related to the inertia of the ions. After tens of microseconds, the electrons reached the wall of the cavity. The speed of this expansion is dependent on the gas pressure and can be divided into two regimes. It is shown that the acoustic dominated regime the expansion speed is independent of the gas pressure and that in the diffusion dominated regime the expansion depends reciprocal on the gas pressure.

The influence of the EUV spectrum on plasma induced by EUV radiation in argon and hydrogen gas

Plasmas induced by EUV radiation are scarcely investigated, although they are unique since they are created without any discharge. These plasmas are also of interest from an applicational point of view, since they are related to the lifetime of optics in EUV lithography tools. In order to assess this impact, it is essential to characterize and understand EUV-induced plasma. In this contribution the influence of the background gas (argon and hydrogen) in the lithography tool and the spectrum of the illumination source on the electron density of EUV-induced plasma is investigated using microwave cavity resonance spectroscopy. The experimental results showed that out-of-band radiation (>20 nm) is the main contributor to EUV-induced plasma in both argon and hydrogen. In hydrogen, this contribution is relatively more important than in argon due to the stronger wavelength dependence of the photoionization cross section of hydrogen than of argon. Furthermore, the production of electrons by out-of-band radiation lasts longer than the production by in-band radiation (10–20 nm) due to the longer temporal width of out-of-band radiation. Finally, the obtained results correspond reasonably well with estimates from a simplified absorption model.

Radiating plasma species density distribution in EUV-induced plasma in argon: a spatiotemporal experimental study

In this contribution we experimentally study temporally and spatially resolved radiating plasma species density distribution in plasma induced by irradiating a low pressure argon gas with high energy photons with a wavelength of 13.5 nm, i.e. extreme ultraviolet (EUV). This is done by recording the optical emission spatially and temporally resolved by an iCCD camera as a function of the argon gas pressure. Our experimental results show that the emission intensity, i.e. density of radiating plasma species, depends quadratically on the gas pressure. The linear term is due to photoionization and simultaneous excitation by EUV photons, the quadratic term due to electron impact excitation by electrons generated by photoionization. The decay of radiating plasma species can be divided into two phases. At time scales shorter than 10 μs (first phase), the decay is governed by radiative decay of radiating plasma species. At longer time scales (second phase, >10 μs), the decay is dominated by diffusion and subsequent de-excitation at the wall. The experimental decay and expansion during this phase corresponds well with a simplified diffusion model. In order to gain more insight in this exotic type of plasma, we compare the electron density from previous measurements with the results obtained here.