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Abstract: The most important parameter in reactive hydrogen plasma is the density of neutral hydrogen atoms. The density can be measured by different means including a variety of optical emission and absorption spectroscopy methods, titration and catalytic probes. Recently, it was shown that catalytic probes have some advantages over the other methods. The main advantage is the ability for real time measurement of the atom density. A catalytic probe was used to measure the H density in an afterglow of a plasma reactor. Plasma was created in a mixture of argon and hydrogen. At a constant H2 and Ar flow rates, the H density was found to increase with increasing power. At a low concentration of hydrogen in the gas mixture, saturation in the H density was observed. The lower the hydrogen concentration the lower the power at which the saturation was observed. At high hydrogen concentrations, no H saturation was observed. The results were explained with collision phenomena in ionized gases and heterogeneous recombination of H atoms on surfaces. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Low pressure inductively coupled plasma was investigated with a combination of two diagnostic techniques: catalytic probes and optical emission spectroscopy (actinometry). Three working gases were used: oxygen, oxygen–argon mixture and hydrogen. Concentrations of oxygen and hydrogen atoms were determined in a wide range of plasma parameters, with pressure ranging from 10 Pa to 70 Pa, applied power in the range from 50 to 250 W and at many different positions throughout the system (including the coil and afterglow in sample chamber). Concentrations of oxygen atoms were measured to be 1.3 × 10 15 cm −3 in the middle of the coil and 4 × 10 12 cm −3 in the regions of the chamber furthest from the coil. These spatially resolved concentrations are very important in plasma processing of materials, because radical concentrations over the sample determine plasma–material interactions. This work demonstrates that a relatively simple detection system can be practical and sufficiently successful in many plasma applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]