Investigation of Capacitively Coupled Radio-Frequency Argon Plasma: Integration of in Situ Optical Diagnostics with Data-Driven and Theoretical Modeling

Abstract

We utilized a combination of experimental alongside data-driven and theoretical modelling techniques to study non-thermal plasma properties and observables including optical emission spectral intensities, electron temperature, species concentrations, degree of ionization, and reaction rates. As a case study we measured the plasma properties of Argon gas in the low-pressure regime using optical emission spectroscopy (OES) while varying plasma input power and gas flow rate. We used data-driven and drift-diffusion modeling techniques to obtain complementary information, including electron temperature, reduced electric field, and species densities. The calculated density number of excited argon has a linear correlation to measured emission intensity, and we found that the dominant effect on Ar I intensity is the applied power with the gas flow (or pressure) the secondary factor (77% and 20%, respectively). The electron temperature increases with power but decreases with flow (or pressure). Combining the measured and modelling results help to understand the cold plasma dynamics and chemistry towards more complex plasma chemistry applications.