Characterization of energetic and thermalized sputtered atoms in pulsed plasma using time-resolved tunable diode-laser induced fluorescence

In this work, a time-resolved tunable diode-laser (DL) induced fluorescence (TR-TDLIF) method calibrated by absorption spectroscopy has been developed in order to determine atom and flux velocity distribution functions (AVDF and FVDF) of the energetic and the thermalized atoms in pulsed plasmas. The experimental set-up includes a low-frequency (∼3 Hz) and high spectral-resolution DL (∼0.005 pm), a fast rise-time pulse generator, and a high power impulse magnetron sputtering (HiPIMS) system. The induced TR-TDLIF signal is recorded every 0.5 μs with a digital oscilloscope of a second-long trace. The technique is illustrated with determining the AVDF and the FVDF of a metastable state of the sputtered neutral tungsten atoms in the HiPIMS post-discharge. Gaussian functions describing the population of the four W isotopes were used to fit the measured TR-TDLIF signal. These distribution functions provide insight into transition from the energetic to thermalized regimes from the discharge onset. This technique may be extended with appropriate DLs to probe any species with rapidly changing AVDF and FVDF in pulsed and strongly oscillating plasmas.