PNNL

Abstract

The flux of atomic oxygen generated in a electron cyclotron resonance (ECR) microwave plasma source was quantified by two different methods. The commonly applied approach of monitoring the frequency change of a silver-coated quartz crystal microbalance (QCM) deposition rate monitor as the silver is oxidized was found to underestimate the atomic oxygen flux by an order of magnitude compared to a more direct deposition approach. In the mixed-phase Ag/Ag2O deposition method, silver films were deposited in the presence of the plasma such that the films were partially oxidized to Ag2O; x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) was utilized for quantification of the oxidized fraction. The inaccuracy of the QCM oxidation method was tentatively attributed to efficient catalytic recombination of O atoms on the silver surface.