Absolute density measurement of hydrogen atom in inductively coupled Ar/H2 plasmas using vacuum ultraviolet absorption spectroscopy

Abstract The absolute density measurement of atomic species such as hydrogen is crucial for plasma processing because of their strong chemical reactivity. In this work, to measure the hydrogen atom density in Ar/H2 inductively coupled plasmas (ICP), the self-absorption-applied vacuum ultraviolet absorption spectroscopy (VUVAS) is studied with a micro-hollow cathode H2/He discharge lamp (MHCL) emitting VUV light (Lyman alpha line; Lα 121.56 nm). The absolute density of hydrogen atoms in the ICP is investigated for various powers (50 W–850 W) in the low pressure region (30 mTorr–50 mTorr). The hydrogen density in remote plasma region is shown to vary from 2.1 × 1011 cm−3 to 1.25 × 1012 cm−3 with respect to plasma power.