Line widths and temperatures of Ar-N2 ICP discharges measured by high-resolution Fourier transform spectrometry

Abstract The high-resolution Fourier transform spectrometer (FTS) of the Los Alamos National Laboratory was used for diagnostic studies of Ar-N 2 ICP discharges. High-resolution FTS data were obtained to: (a) conduct analysis of line widths and line shapes for Fe lines to ascertain contributions from the Gaussian and Lorentzian components; (b) to calculate the Doppler or translational temperatures of emitting species by using the half width of the Gaussian component; and (c) to determine excitation temperatures based on the relative intensities of many spectral lines. The effect of gas composition and plasma operating conditions on line widths, Doppler and excitation temperatures were examined.