Spectroscopic study on the vibrational populations of N2 CΠ3 and BΠ3 states in a microwave nitrogen discharge

Abstract

We measured the band spectra (first and second positive systems) of the nitrogen molecule to examine the vibrational and rotational temperatures of the CΠ3 and BΠ3 states by optical emission spectroscopy. We compared the experimentally measured and the calculated spectra to determine those temperatures of the generated plasma. We generated a microwave discharge nitrogen plasma in a cylindrical quartz tube (26mm inside diameter) with a discharge pressure of 0.5–1.0Torr. The microwave frequency was 2.45GHz and the output power was set at 600W. It was found that Tv≈0.5–0.7eV and Tr≈0.07–0.15eV at BΠ3 (v=7, 8, and 9), whereas Tv≈0.65–0.9eV and Tr≈0.06–0.16eV at CΠ3 (v=0 and 1). Both rotational temperatures obtained from first and second positive systems were in good agreement. We also compared the measured vibrational populations with theoretical calculations, in which vibrational distribution function at N2 X and electron energy distribution function are calculated self-consistently.