Spectroscopic Diagnostics for Low Temperature Industrial Plasmas

国家科学基金会NSF/美国能源部在基础等离子体科学和工程方面的伙伴关系提案编号：CBET-0714600主要研究员：Wendt，Amy E.隶属：威斯康星大学麦迪逊分校提案标题：低温工业等离子体的光谱诊断将基于对非侵入性和相对直接的光学发射光谱(OES)测量的复杂使用，开发和测试工业等离子体的新诊断策略。为此，已经组建了一个新的跨学科团队，将原子物理和等离子体处理方面的实验室专业知识结合在一起。这项工作中的新技术是通过最近测量稀有气体中电子碰撞激发截面的测量而实现的，这些截面是由皮尔·林教授合作的实验室完成的。快速测量多个截面的能力将使PI能够识别特殊的波长组合，对于这些波长，发射光强度的比率可以直接确定等离子体性质。新方法将首先在测试等离子体系统上进行评估，方法是将结果与更成熟的诊断方法进行比较，然后将在更复杂的化学处理等离子体上实施。所用的中心思想是，所有的等离子体都辐射一种特征的辉光(“光学发射”)，所发射的光的光谱携带着有关它所来自的等离子体的性质的信息。因此，来自该项目的科学见解和数据将使使用等离子体的非凡范围的过程受益。等离子体处理最广为人知的是对计算机芯片制造至关重要，但等离子体的应用扩展到各种应用，如远程太空任务的电力推进、等离子显示电视和基于等离子体的手术工具。随着工艺变得更加精细和应用更加多样化，对等离子体条件的理解和表征对于所需的预测能力至关重要。不幸的是，许多其他诊断方法已经应用于工业等离子体，但效果参差不齐。它们往往难以实施或解释，它们可能扰乱或污染等离子体，或者它们可能需要高度专业化的培训，使它们在工业环境中不切实际。因此，这个项目的工作不仅会对科学产生影响，还会对各种重要技术和教育产生影响。特别是，来自这些研究的基本知识可能有助于有效使用和开发等离子体处理工具。此外，研究结果将被纳入威斯康星州的课程，本科生和研究生将接受宝贵的研究技能培训。该项目还可能对培养工程和科学方面代表性不足的人口产生重要影响，特别是在女性参与方面，因为主导的国际和平协会在吸引女性研究生参与方面有着良好的记录。

National Science FoundationNSF/DOE Partnership in Basic Plasma Science and EngineeringProposal Number: CBET-0714600Principal Investigator: Wendt, Amy E. Affiliation: University of Wisconsin-MadisonProposal Title: Spectroscopic Diagnostics for Low Temperature Industrial Plasmas New diagnostic strategies for industrial plasmas will be developed and tested, based on sophisticated use of non-invasive and relatively straightforward optical emission spectra (OES) measurements. To that end, a new, cross-disciplinary team has been assembled, combining laboratory expertise in both atomic physics and plasma processing. The new techniques in this work are enabled by recent measurements of cross sections for electron impact excitation in rare gases made in the laboratory of co-PI Prof. Chun Lin. The ability to measure many cross sections rapidly will allow the PIs to identify special combinations of wavelengths for which the ratio of emitted light intensities can be used to determine plasma properties directly. The new methods will first be evaluated on a test plasma system by comparing results with more established diagnostics and then will be implemented on a more chemically complex processing plasma. The central idea used is that all plasmas radiate a characteristic glow ("optical emission"), and the spectrum of the emitted light carries information about the properties of the plasma from which it comes. Scientific insights and data from this project will thus benefit the extraordinary range of processes using plasmas. Plasma processing is most widely known as being vital to computer-chip manufacturing, but plasma usage extends to such varied applications as electric propulsion for long-range space missions, plasma display televisions and plasma-based surgical tools. Understanding and characterization of plasma conditions is essential to the predictive capability needed as processes become more refined and applications more varied. Unfortunately, many other diagnostics have been applied to industrial plasmas with mixed success. They are often difficult to implement or interpret, they may perturb or contaminate the plasma, or they may require highly specialized training, rendering them impractical in an industrial environment.Work from this project will thus add not only to impact on science but also on diverse important technologies and to education. In particular, basic knowledge from these studies is likely to aid effective use and development of plasma-processing tools. Furthermore, the results will be incorporated into courses at Wisconsin, undergraduate and graduate students will have valuable training in research skills. The project is also likely to have important influences on raising under-represented populations in engineering and science, especially in female participation as the lead PI has a strong track record in attracting female graduate-student participation.