Abstract The Quantemol database (QDB) provides cross sections and rates of processes important for plasma models; heavy particle collisions (chemical reactions) and electron collision processes are considered. The current version of QDB has data on 28 917 processes between 2485 distinct species plus data for surface processes. These data are available via a web interface or can be delivered directly to plasma models using an application program interface; data are available in formats suitable for direct input into a variety of popular plasma modeling codes including HPEM, COMSOL, ChemKIN, CFD-ACE+, and VisGlow. QDB provides ready assembled plasma chemistries plus the ability to build bespoke chemistries. The database also provides a Boltzmann solver for electron dynamics and a zero-dimensional model. Thesedevelopments, use cases involving O2, Ar/NF3, Ar/NF3/O2, and He/H2O/O2chemistries, and plans for the future are presented.
more »
« less
Transformer coupled toroidal wave-heated remote plasma sources operating in Ar/NF 3 mixtures
Abstract Remote plasmas are used in semiconductor device manufacturing as sources of radicals for chamber cleaning and isotropic etching. In these applications, large fluxes of neutral radicals (e.g. F, O, Cl, H) are desired with there being negligible fluxes of potentially damaging ions and photons. One remote plasma source (RPS) design employs toroidal, transformer coupling using ferrite cores to dissociate high flows of moderately high pressure (up to several Torr) electronegative gases. In this paper, results are discussed from a computational investigation of moderate pressure, toroidal transformer coupled RPS sustained in Ar and Ar/NF3mixtures. Operation of the RPS in 1 Torr (133 Pa) of argon with a power of 1.0 kW at 0.5 MHz and a single core produces a continuous toroidal plasma loop with current continuity being maintained dominantly by conduction current. Operation with dual cores introduces azimuthal asymmetries with local maxima in plasma density. Current continuity is maintained by a mix of conduction and displacement current. Operation in NF3for the same conditions produces essentially complete NF3dissociation. Electron depletion as a result of dissociative attachment of NF3and NFxfragments significantly alters the discharge topology, confining the electron density to the downstream portion of the source where the NFxdensity has been lowered by this dissociation.
more »
« less
- Award ID(s):
- 2032604
- PAR ID:
- 10529892
- Publisher / Repository:
- IOP Publishing
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Journal of Physics D: Applied Physics
- Volume:
- 57
- Issue:
- 43
- ISSN:
- 0022-3727
- Format(s):
- Medium: X Size: Article No. 435202
- Size(s):
- Article No. 435202
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
More Like this
-
-
Abstract Plasmas interacting with liquid microdroplets are gaining momentum due to their ability to significantly enhance the reactivity transfer from the gas phase plasma to the liquid. This is, for example, critically important for efficiently decomposing organic pollutants in water. In this contribution, the role of ⋅ OH as well as non- ⋅ OH-driven chemistry initiated by the activation of small water microdroplets in a controlled environment by diffuse RF glow discharge in He with different gas admixtures (Ar, O 2 and humidified He) at atmospheric pressure is quantified. The effect of short-lived radicals such as O ⋅ and H ⋅ atoms, singlet delta oxygen (O 2 ( a 1 Δ g )), O 3 and metastable atoms of He and Ar, besides ⋅ OH radicals, on the decomposition of formate dissolved in droplets was analyzed using detailed plasma diagnostics, droplet characterization and ex situ chemical analysis of the treated droplets. The formate decomposition increased with increasing droplet residence time in the plasma, with ∼70% decomposition occurring within ∼15 ms of the plasma treatment time. The formate oxidation in the droplets is shown to be limited by the gas phase ⋅ OH flux at lower H 2 O concentrations with a significant enhancement in the formate decomposition at the lowest water concentration, attributed to e − /ion-induced reactions. However, the oxidation is diffusion limited in the liquid phase at higher gaseous ⋅ OH concentrations. The formate decomposition in He/O 2 plasma was similar, although with an order of magnitude higher O ⋅ radical density than the ⋅ OH density in the corresponding He/H 2 O plasma. Using a one-dimensional reaction–diffusion model, we showed that O 2 ( a 1 Δ g ) and O 3 did not play a significant role and the decomposition was due to O ⋅ , and possibly ⋅ OH generated in the vapor containing droplet-plasma boundary layer.more » « less
-
Abstract Ozone, O3, is a strong oxidizing agent often used for water purification. O3is typically produced in dielectric barrier discharges (DBDs) by electron-impact dissociation of O2, followed by three-body association reactions between O and O2. Previous studies on O3formation in low-temperature plasma DBDs have shown that O3concentrations can drop to nearly zero after continued operation, termed the ozone-zero phenomenon (OZP). Including small (<4%) admixtures of N2can suppress this phenomenon and increase the O3production relative to using pure O2in spite of power deposition being diverted from O2to N2and the production of nitrogen oxides, NxOy. The OZP is hypothesized to occur because O3is destroyed on the surfaces in contact with the plasma. Including N2in the gas mixture enables N atoms to occupy surface sites that would otherwise participate in O3destruction. The effect of N2in ozone-producing DBDs was computationally investigated using a global plasma chemistry model. A general surface reaction mechanism is proposed to explain the increase in O3production with N2admixtures. The mechanism includes O3formation and destruction on the surfaces, adsorption and recombination of O and N, desorption of O2and N2, and NOxreactions. Without these reactions on the surface, the density of O3monotonically decreases with increasing N2admixture due to power absorption by N2leading to the formation of nitrogen oxides. With N-based surface chemistry, the concentrations of O3are maximum with a few tenths of percent of N2depending on the O3destruction probability on the surface. The consequences of the surface chemistry on ozone production are less than the effect of gas temperature without surface processes. An increase in the O3density with N-based surface chemistry occurs when the surface destruction probability of O3or the surface roughness was decreased.more » « less
-
Abstract We report bias enhanced nucleation and growth of boron-rich deposits through systematic study of the effect of a negative direct current substrate bias during microwave plasma chemical vapor deposition. The current flowing through a silicon substrate with an applied bias of −250 V was investigated for a feedgas containing fixed hydrogen (H2) flow rate but with varying argon (Ar) flow rates for 1330, 2670, and 4000 Pa chamber pressure. For 1330 and 2670 Pa, the bias current goes through a maximum with increasing Ar flow rate. This maximum current also corresponds to a peak in substrate temperature. However, at 4000 Pa, no maximum in bias current or substrate temperature is observed for the range of argon flow rates tested. Using these results, substrate bias pre-treatment experiments were performed at 1330 Pa in an Ar/H2plasma, yielding the maximum bias current. Nucleation density of boron deposits were measured after subsequent exposure to B2H6in H2plasma and found to be a factor of 200 times higher than when no bias and no Ar was used. Experiments were repeated at 2670 and 4000 Pa (fixed bias voltage and Ar flow rate) in order to test the effect of chamber pressure on the nucleation density. Compared to 4000 Pa, we find nearly 7 times higher boron nucleation densities for both 1330 and 2670 Pa when the substrate was negatively biased in the Ar/H2plasma. Results are explained by incorporating measurements of plasma optical emission and by use of heterogeneous nucleation theory. The optimal conditions at 1330 Pa for nucleation were used to grow boron-rich amorphous films with measured hardness as high as 58 GPa, well above the 40 GPa threshold for superhardness.more » « less
-
Abstract In this paper, we report a molecular beam mass spectrometer study of a time‐modulated radiofrequency (RF)‐driven atmospheric pressure plasma jet in Ar + 1% O2. Time‐resolved measurements of the absolute density of O3during the RF modulation period revealed a temporal increase of O3densities at the start and end of the power modulation. This increase correlates with the increase in O2due to plasma‐induced transient vortices in the gas jet. Pseudo‐one‐dimensional plug flow modeling of the axial species densities as a function of distance match well with the experimentally recorded trends. The obtained results were used to assess the importance of the O flux in previously reported ClO−production in saline by the same plasma jet.more » « less
An official website of the United States government
