Laser-assisted ablation and plasma formation of titanium explored by LIBS,QCM, optical microscopy and SEM analyses along with mechanical modifications under different pressures of Ar and Ne

This study deals with the investigation of Nd:YAG laser-assisted ablation and plasma formation of Ti at irradiance of 0.85 GW cm^-2 under Ar and Ne environment at various pressures ranging from 10-120 Torr.Laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy is used to evaluate plasma parameters,whereas quartz crystal microbalance is used for ablation yield measurements.The crater depth is evaluated by optical microscopy.The surface features are explored by scanning electron microscope(SEM) analysis a...     

Diagnostic of capacitively coupled radio frequency plasma from electrical discharge characteristics: comparison with optical emission spectroscopy and fluid model simulation

The capacitively coupled radio frequency(CCRF)plasma has been widely used in various fields.In some cases,it requires us to estimate the range of key plasma parameters simpler and quicker in order to understand the behavior in plasma.In this paper,a glass vacuum chamber and a pair of plate electrodes were designed and fabricated,using 13.56 MHz radio frequency(RF)discharge technology to ionize the working gas of Ar.This discharge was mathematically described with equivalent circuit model.The discharge voltage and current of the plasma were measured atdifferent pressures and different powers.Based on the capacitively coupled homogeneous discharge model,the equivalent circuit and the analytical formula were established.The plasma density and temperature were calculated by using the equivalent impedance principle and energy balance equation.The experimental results show that when RF discharge power is 50–300 W and pressure is 25–250 Pa,the average electron temperature is about 1.7–2.1 e V and the average electron density is about 0.5?×?10~(17)–3.6?×?10~(17)m~(-3).Agreement was found when the results were compared to those given by optical emission spectroscopy and COMSOL simulation.     

Monte Carlo calculations of low-energy electron dose-point-kernels in water using different stopping power approximations

The spatial distribution of absorbed energy in irradiated matter can be conveniently described by dose-point-kernel (DPK) distributions that characterize the average energy deposition around single charged-particle tracks during their slowing down process. In the present work, electron DPKs in liquid water in the energy range from 100 eV to 10 keV are presented based on Monte Carlo simulation of electron transport in the continuous-slowing-down-approximation (csda). Elastic collisions are individually simulated using the screened Rutherford formula, whereas the energy loss from inelastic interactions is determined from stopping power (SP) theory. Along with the standard Bethe SP formula we examine different empirical expressions of general-use which are meant to improve the performance of the Bethe formula at low electron energies. Comparison is also made with a recent Bethe-type parametric expression obtained from a dielectric optical data model of liquid water. Our findings indicate that for electron energies below ∼1 keV the discrepancies between the DPKs calculated by the general-purpose SP formulae become apparent. Moreover, the results obtained by the empirical expressions compare rather poorly with those from the dielectric model over the entire energy range examined.     

Design of Thomson scattering diagnostic system on linear magnetized plasma device

In addition to the magnetic confinement fusion plasma, Thomson scattering has been applied to measure electron density and temperature of low-temperature plasmas. Based on a linear magnetized plasma device, a set of Thomson scattering diagnostic system is designed to diagnose the plasma with ${n}_{{\rm{e}}}={10}^{18}{\unicode{x02013}}{10}^{19}\,{{\rm{m}}}^{-3}$ and ${T}_{{\rm{e}}}=2{\unicode{x02013}}5$ eV. Due to low plasma temperature and density, this diagnostic system needs high spectral resolution and collection efficiency to meet the requirements of electron velocity distribution function measurements. Through the bench test, it is confirmed that the spectral resolution reaches 0.01 nm, and theoretical collection efficiency is high enough to obtain a Thomson scattering spectrum by 1000 accumulations.     

Chemical states and thermal stability of hydrogen-implanted Ti and V studied by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy

X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) was applied to the chemical state studies of Ti and V metals bombarded with 8 keV hydrogen ions. The binding energies of the lines for the ion-implanted Ti and V shift from those for the metallic states by 0.3 eV, are consistent with the core-line shifts for the thermally synthesized hydrides such as TiH_1.97 and VH_0.55 The metal 3d-H1s bonding level for the hydrogen implanted Ti appears at ~ 3.5 eV below the Fermi level, which is lower by ~ 2.5 eV than the molecular-orbital energy previously calculated for TiH₂. In the case of the ion-implanted V, however, it appears at ~ 5.0 eV, which is almost equal to the molecular-orbital energy for VH₂. The photopeaks corresponding to the Ti-H and V-H bonds for the ion-implanted samples grew up on raising the annealing temperature up to 550°C and 150°C, respectively. The phenomena are interpreted by means of the thermal diffusion of the implanted hydrogen from bulk to surface.     

Atomistic properties of helium in hcp titanium: A first-principles study

First-principles calculations based on density functional theory have been performed to investigate the behaviors of He in hcp-type Ti. The most favorable interstitial site for He is not an ordinary octahedral or tetrahedral site, but a novel interstitial site (called FC) with a formation energy as low as 2.67 eV, locating the center of the face shared by two adjacent octahedrons. The origin was further analyzed by composition of formation energy of interstitial He defects and charge density of defect-free hcp Ti. It has also been found that an interstitial He atom can easily migrate along 〈0 0 1〉 direction with an activation energy of 0.34 eV and be trapped by another interstitial He atom with a high binding energy of 0.66 eV. In addition, the small He clusters with/without Ti vacancy have been compared in details and the formation energies of He_nV clusters with a pre-existing Ti vacancy are even higher than those of He_n clusters until n ? 3.     

Energy dependence of electron stopping powers in elemental solids over the 100 eV to 30 keV energy range

We analyzed the energy dependence of electron stopping powers (SPs) calculated for 41 elemental solids from experimental optical data for electron energies between 100 eV and 30 keV. Our analysis was performed with the Hill equation to represent a series of steps in plots of the slopes of Fano plots. The average root-mean-square difference between SPs from fits with an equation derived from the Hill equation and the calculated SPs was 1.0%. The new equation can provide SPs over a wide energy range for Monte Carlo simulations of electron transport with the continuous slowing-down approximation.     

Spectrum-Averaged One-Group Cross Sections of Actinides Based on JENDL-3

When uranium vapor is generated with an electron beam evaporator, a uranium plasma is formed on the evaporating surface. This plasma rises and expands with the vapor. Propagation behavior of this plasma was investigated by measuring plasma parameters, drift energy of ions and vapor flux along the propagation path. Over the range of 20-50 cm from the evaporation surface, the plasma density decreased from 3 × 10⁹ cm^?3 to 3 × 10⁸ cm^?3, while the electron temperature had a constant value of 0.29 eV. When the space potential was lowered from 1.48 to 0.80 V, the plasma ions were accelerated to increase the drift energy from 1.50 to 2.14 eV. Validity of the Boltzmann electron distribution was checked by comparing the space potential distribution with the plasma density distribution, and also the floating potential distribution with the ion flux distribution. These results confirm that the ambipolar diffusion governs the plasma propagation behavior. The change in the plasma density during its propagation occurred not only by an increase of plasma volume, but by the ion acceleration toward the propagation direction as well.     

Scattering of protons by hydrogen atoms at low energies: Phase shifts and differential cross sections

Phase shifts and differential cross sections for spin exchange (charge transfer) and total elastic scattering of protons by hydrogen atoms are presented for 36 and 38 values, respectively, of the collisional kinetic energy in the range 0.0001 to 10 eV (center of mass). The phase shifts are tabulated with a precision of six decimal digits. Each cross section is presented as a graph covering the complete angular range from 0 to π radians (in center-of-mass coordinates). The phase shifts were obtained via partial wave analysis within a modified Perturbed-Stationary-States theory by calculations based upon very accurate (nonrelativistic) internuclear potential energies for the 1Sσ_g and 2Pσ_u electronic states of H₂⁺. The cross sections demonstrate a transition from purely quantum behavior at very low energies (<0.1 eV) to semicllssical behavior at higher energies (>1 eV) in which protons scattered by spin exchange are angularly separated from those scattered without exchange. Thus the in-principle unobservable charge-transfer cross section becomes physically measurable at energies greater than about 1 eV.     

Diagnosing the Fine Structure of Electron Energy Within the ECRIT Ion Source

The ion source of the electron cyclotron resonance ion thruster(ECRIT) extracts ions from its ECR plasma to generate thrust, and has the property of low gas consumption(2 sccm,standard-state cubic centimeter per minute) and high durability. Due to the indispensable effects of the primary electron in gas discharge, it is important to experimentally clarify the electron energy structure within the ion source of the ECRIT through analyzing the electron energy distribution function(EEDF) of the plasma inside the thruster. In this article the Langmuir probe diagnosing method was used to diagnose the EEDF, from which the effective electron temperature, plasma density and the electron energy probability function(EEPF) were deduced. The experimental results show that the magnetic field influences the curves of EEDF and EEPF and make the effective plasma parameter nonuniform. The diagnosed electron temperature and density from sample points increased from 4 eV/2×10~(16)m~(-3) to 10 eV/4×10~(16)m(-3) with increasing distances from both the axis and the screen grid of the ion source. Electron temperature and density peaking near the wall coincided with the discharge process. However, a double Maxwellian electron distribution was unexpectedly observed at the position near the axis of the ion source and about 30 mm from the screen grid. Besides, the double Maxwellian electron distribution was more likely to emerge at high power and a low gas flow rate. These phenomena were believed to relate to the arrangements of the gas inlets and the magnetic field where the double Maxwellian electron distribution exits. The results of this research may enhance the understanding of the plasma generation process in the ion source of this type and help to improve its performance.     

Differential cross sections for ejection of electrons from helium by protons

A compilation is presented of the results of several authors on experimental cross sections for ejection of electrons from helium gas by protons of 5 keV to 5 MeV energy. The data are given as a function of the angle and energy of ejection. Angles from 10° to 160° are surveyed and electron energies range from 1 to 8600 eV. The doubly differential cross sections are integrated in various ways to obtain cross sections differential only in energy or angle, total electron production cross sections, and mean energies of ejection.     

Total electron scattering cross sections of alkanes at intermediate energies

The total electron scattering cross sections (TCS) are reported for C₂H₆ (ethane), C₃H₈ (propane) and C₄H₁₀ (butane) for 300–4000 eV electrons by measurement of the electron-beam intensity attenuation through a gas cell. These experimental TCS are employed to deduce a simple analytical formula to express the TCS of alkanes at intermediate electron energies in terms of the number of carbon atoms, hydrogen atoms and the electron energy. The present experimental TCS are compared with the previous experimental measurements and the predictions of those by theoretical models.     

Modelling of deposition processes on the TiO2 rutile (1 1 0) surface

Deposition of Ti_xO_y clusters onto the rutile TiO₂ (1 1 0) surface has been modelled using empirical potential based molecular dynamics. Deposition energies in the range 10-40 eV have been considered so as to model typical deposition energies of magnetron sputtering. Defects formed as a function of both the deposition energy and deposition species have been studied.The results show that in the majority of cases Ti interstitial atoms are formed, irrespective of whether Ti was contained within the deposited cluster. Furthermore that the majority of these interstitials are formed by displacing a surface Ti atom into the interstitial site. O surface atoms are also relatively common, with Ti and TiO₂ surface units often occurring when the deposited cluster contains Ti but becoming less frequent as the deposition energy is increased. Structures that would give rise to the growth of further layers of rutile are not observed and in the majority of the simulations the energy barriers for diffusion of the end-products is high.     

Effect of Addition of Nitrogen to a Capacitively Radio-Frequency Hydrogen Discharge

A hybrid PIC/MC model is developed in this work for H2-xN2 capacitively coupled radio-frequency （CCRF） discharges in which we take into account 43 kinds of collisions reaction processes between charged particles （e-, H3＋, H＋, H＋, N＋, N＋） and ground-state molecules （H2, H＋ N2）. In addition, the mean energies and densities of electrons and ions （ 3, H＋, H＋）, and electric field distributions in the H2-N2 CCRF discharge are simulated by this model. Furthermore, the effects of addition of a variable percentage of nitrogen （0-30%） into the H2 discharge on the plasma processes and discharge characteristics are studied. It is shown that by increasing the percentage of nitrogen added to the system, the RF sheath thickness will narrow, the sheath electric field will be enhanced, and the mean energy of hydrogen ions impacting the electrodes will be increased. Because the electron impact ionization and dissociative ionization rates increase when N2 is added to the system, the electron mean density will increase while the electron mean energy and hydrogen ion density near the electrodes will decrease. This work aims to provide a theoretical basis for experimental studies and technological developments with regard to H2-N2 CCRF plasmas.     

Diagnosis of Electron, Vibrational and Rotational Temperatures in an Ar/N2 Shock Plasma Jet Produced by a Low Pressure DC Cascade Arc Discharge

In this paper,a low pressure Ar/N2 shock plasma jet with clearly multicycle alternating zones produced by a DC cascade arc discharge has been investigated by an emission spectral method combined with Abel inversion analysis.Plasma emission intensity,electron,vibrational and rotational temperatures of the shock plasma have been measured in the expansion and compression zones.The results indicate that the ranges of the measured electron temperature,vibrational temperature and rotational temperature are 1.1 eV to 1.6 eV,0.2 eV to 0.7 eV and 0.19 eV to 0.22 eV,respectively,and it is found for the first time that the vibrational and rotational temperatures increase while the electron temperature decreases in the compression zones.The electron temperature departs from the vibrational and the rotational temperatures due to non-equilibrium plasma efects.Electrons and heavy particles could not completely exchange energy via collisions in the shock plasma jet under the low pressure of 620 Pa or so.     

Spectral characteristic of laser-induced plasma in soil

The spectral characteristic of laser-induced plasma in soil was studied in this work, laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy was used to analyze the spectral characteristic of plasma under the condition of different time delays and irradiances. Moreover, the time evolution characteristics of plasma temperature and electron density were discussed. Within the time delay range of 0-5 μs,the spectral intensity of the characteristic lines of Si I: 288.158 nm, Ti I: 336.126 nm, Al I:394.400 nm and Fe I: 438.354 nm of the four main elements in two kinds of national standard soil decayed exponentially with time. The average lifetime of the spectral lines was nearly 1.56 μs. Under the condition of different time delays, the spectral intensity of Pb I: 405.78 nm in soil increased linearly with laser energy. However, the slope between the spectral intensity and laser energy decreased exponentially with the increase in time delay, from 4.91 to 0.99 during 0-5 μs. The plasma temperature was calculated by the Boltzmann plot method and the electron density was obtained by inversion of the full width at half maximum of the spectrum. The plasma temperature decreased from 8900 K to 7800 K and the electron density decreased from 1.5 × 10~(17) cm~(-3) to 7.8 × 10~(16) cm~(-3) in the range of 0-5 μs.     

The application of a helicon plasma source in reactive sputter deposition of tungsten nitride thin films

A reactive helicon wave plasma (HWP) sputtering method is used for the deposition of tungsten nitride (WNx) thin films. N2 is introduced downstream in the diffusion chamber. The impacts of N2 on the Ar-HWP parameters, such as ion energy distribution functions (IEDFs), electron energy probability functions (EEPFs), electron temperature (Te) and density (ne), are investigated. With the addition of N2, a decrease in electron density is observed due to the dissociative recombination of electrons with ${{\rm{N}}}_{2}^{+}.$ The similar IEDF curves of Ar+ and N2+ indicate that the majority of ${{\rm{N}}}_{2}^{+}$ stems from the charge transfer in the collision between Ar+ and N2. Moreover, due to the collisions between electrons and N2 ions, EEPFs show a relatively lower Te with a depletion in the high-energy tail. With increasing negative bias from 50 to 200 V, a phase transition from hexagonal WN to fcc-WN0.5 is observed, together with an increase in the deposition rate and roughness     

Sputtering induced by cluster impact on metal targets: Influenceof electronic stopping

The effect of electronic stopping on the sputtering of metals by cluster impact is discussed. We focus on the specific case of Au₁₃ impact on a Au surface. Using molecular-dynamics simulation, we study several strategies to include electronic stopping. Electronic stopping influences both the magnitude of the sputter yield and the duration of the sputter process. In the usual procedure, electronic stopping only affects sufficiently fast atoms with kinetic energies above a threshold energy, which is of the order of the target cohesive energy. When assuming that electronic stopping holds down to thermal energies <1 eV, or even to 0 eV, the collision spike is rapidly quenched and the sputter yields become unrealistically small. Furthermore, we implement a scheme to include electronic stopping based on local (electron) density information readily available in a simulation.     

Spectral Characteristics of Laser-Induced Graphite Plasma in Ambient Air

An experimental setup of laser-induced graphite plasma was built and the spectral characteristics and properties of graphite plasma were studied. From the temporal behavior of graphite plasma, the duration of CN partials(B~2∑~+→X~2∑~+) emission was two times longer than that of atomic carbon, and all intensities reached the maximum during the early stage from0.2 μs to 0.8 μs. The electron temperature decreased from 11807 K to 8755 K, the vibration temperature decreased from 8973 K to 6472 K, and the rotational temperature decreased from7288 K to 4491 K with the delay time, respectively. The effect of the laser energy was also studied, and it was found that the thresholds and spectral characteristics of CN molecular and C atomic spectroscopy presented great differences. At lower laser energies, the electron excited temperature, the electron density, the vibrational temperature and rotational temperature of CN partials increased rapidly. At higher laser energies, the increasing of electron excited temperature and electron density slow down, and the vibrational temperature and rotational temperature even trend to saturation due to plasma shielding and dissociation of CN molecules. The relationship among the three kinds of temperatures was T_(elec)T_(vib)T_(rot) at the same time. The electron density of the graphite plasma was in the order of 10~(17)cm~(-3) and 10~(18)cm~(-3).     

The role of projectile interactions in triply differential cross sections for excitation-ionization of helium

We report triply differential cross section (TDCS) for the simultaneous excitation-ionization of helium by electron impact for both coplanar and non-coplanar geometry. In the coplanar case, calculations have been performed for an incident energy of 500 eV and low ejection energies (3 and 10 eV), whereas in the noncoplanar case we have considered impact energies in the range 1240-4260 eV for a symmetric geometry. The present calculation is based on the eikonal approximation due to Glauber. We have incorporated the effect of post-collision interaction in the Glauber approximation. A comparison is made of the present calculations with the results of other theoretical methods and recent experiments. The Glauber results are in reasonably good agreement with the experiment for small scattering angles.