Preface xi
André RICARD and Jayr AMORIM

Part 1. Plasmas 1

Chapter 1. Plasma Electron Collisions and Optical Spectroscopy 3
André RICARD

1.1. Introduction 3
1.2. Plasma electron collisions 4
1.3. Diatomic spectrum nomenclature 9
1.4. Energy levels and potential curves 11
1.5. Optical emission spectroscopy 16
1.6. Optical absorption spectroscopy 19
1.7. Relative atoms density by actinometry 28
1.8. Conclusion 38
1.9. References 39

Chapter 2. Electron, Vibrational and Rotational Temperatures of Plasmas 41
André RICARD and Michel TOUZEAU

2.1. Introduction 41
2.2. N2 electron temperature 42
2.3. Nitrogen vibrational temperature 44
2.4. Nitrogen rotational temperature 47
2.5. Interference of Ar(3P2) and N2(E) metastables in N2 rotational temperature measurements 50
2.6. Rotational temperatures of molecular gases, other than N2 54
2.7. Conclusion 61
2.8. References 62

Chapter 3. Active Species in Plasmas Produced by Microwave Cavities 65
André RICARD

3.1. Introduction 65
3.2. Discharges sustained by microwave fields including surface waves at low gas pressure (< 1 Torr) 66
3.3. Ionization of N2 by electron collisions in surfatron and surfaguide cavities (0.1-3 Torr) 77
3.4. UHF plasmas at medium N2 gas pressure (0.1-3 Torr) 79
3.5. Surfatron plasmas at atmospheric gas pressure 81
3.6. Microwave torches at atmospheric gas pressures 84
3.7. Conclusion 88
3.8. References 88

Part 2. Afterglows 91

Chapter 4. Diagnostics of N2 Active Species Densities by Emission Spectroscopy in Afterglow Conditions. Line Intensity Ratio and NO Titration Methods 93
André RICARD and Jean-Philippe SARRETTE

4.1. Introduction 93
4.2. OES and kinetic reactions in nitrogen afterglow conditions 94
4.3. Titration by NOext of N and O atom density 104
4.4. References 108

Chapter 5. Study of Microwave Afterglows in N2 Gas Mixtures by Emission Spectroscopy and LIF 109
Jayr AMORIM, Gérard BARAVIAN, Freddy GABORIAU, André RICARD and Jean-Philippe SARRETTE

5.1. Introduction 109
5.2. The experimental set-up in LSGS (Nancy) 110
5.3. The N and C atoms density in the Plasmas laboratory (Montreal) 113
5.4. The N and H atoms density by TALIF in LPGP (Orsay) 116
5.5. The N and H atom density by TALIF in Laplace (Toulouse) 121
5.6. Kinetics of the N and H atoms density by TALIF and OES at LAPLACE (Toulouse) 125
5.7. Conclusion 130
5.8. References 130

Chapter 6. Comparison on RF and HF Afterglows in N2 Gas Mixtures 133
Jayr AMORIM, André RICARD and Jean-Philippe SARRETTE

6.1. Introduction 134
6.2. RF and HF N2 flowing plasmas and afterglows 135
6.3. N2 HF afterglows in R(N2, He, Ar)-N2-H2 (CH4) gas mixtures 156
6.4. Conclusion 171
6.5. References 173

Part 3. Applications of Afterglows 175

Chapter 7. Nitriding of TiO2 Surface in the RF and HF Afterglows 177
Yu-Kwon KIM and André RICARD

7.1. Surface reactions 177Contents ix
7.2. Sample preparation, treatments and analysis 182
7.3. The flowing afterglow of RF and microwave discharges for TiO2 surface activation 183
7.4. Conclusion 193
7.5. References 194

Chapter 8. Afterglows of HF Plasmas in N2 for Sterilization: Plasmalyse 195
Cristina CANAL, Sarah COUSTY, André RICARD and Jean-Philippe SARRETTE

8.1. Introduction 196
8.2. The sterilization in the plasmas lab of the University of Montreal 196
8.3. The sterilization in Laplace (University of Toulouse) 199
8.4. Afterglows at atmospheric gas pressure for sterilization 230
8.5. Conclusion 239
8.6. References 241

Postface 243
André RICARD

List of Authors 255
Index 257

Flowing Plasmas and Afterglows with Nitrogen for Surface Modifications

TiO2 Nitriding and N-atoms Sterilization