Evidence of Nitrogen Atom Production in Surface Dielectric Barrier Discharge to Support Thin Film Deposition at Atmospheric Pressure

Abstract

Plasmas can enhance the deposition processes by lowering operating temperatures and/or expanding the range of accessible materials. This study presents a non-thermal plasma (NTP) reactor dedicated to enhancing spatial atomic layer deposition (SALD) at atmospheric pressure. It consists of a surface dielectric barrier discharge (SDBD) unit enclosed in a 3D-printed resin box and driven by a homemade compact µs-pulse high-voltage power supply to generate plasma in N2. High-resolution optical emission spectroscopy (OES) revealed six atomic nitrogen (N I) lines near 820 nm, evidencing the nitrogen atoms production at powers as low as 0.43 W. Their emission was studied under varying high voltage and excitation frequency to evaluate the relative variation of the excited-state nitrogen atom population (3p 4P°).