0000000000388390
AUTHOR
Stephane Bechu
Experimental investigation of the relation between H− negative ion density and Lyman-α emission intensity in a microwave discharge
International audience; A new mechanism for producing negative ions in low density and low power hydrogen plasmas was proposed recently. It refers to anion formation due to collisions between hydrogen atoms being in the first excited state. The proposed mechanism was indirectly supported by the quadratic relation observed between the extracted negative ion current and Lyman-α radiation of a filament-driven arc discharge, when borrowed data from the literature were combined. The present work provides experimental data comparing directly the absolute negative ion density and Lyman-α radiation in an ECR-driven hydrogen plasma source. The previously mentioned quadratic relation is not observed …
VUV emission spectroscopy combined with H- density measurements in the ion source Prometheus I
“Prometheus I” is a volume H− negative ion source, driven by a network of dipolar electron cyclotron resonance (ECR; 2.45 GHz) modules. The vacuum-ultraviolet (VUV) emission spectrum of low-temperature hydrogen plasmas may be related to molecular and atomic processes involved directly or indirectly in the production of negative ions. In this work, VUV spectroscopy has been performed in the above source, Prometheus I, both in the ECR zones and the bulk (far from ECR zones and surfaces) plasma. The acquired VUV spectra are correlated with the negative ion densities, as measured by means of laser photodetachment, and the possible mechanisms of negative ion production are considered. The well-e…