A diagnosis of gas-phase processes in a high pressure DC CH4/H2 plasma

Abstract

In this work, gas phase processes in a high pressure (～100 Torr) DC hydrocarbon plasma are investigated in situ by optical emission spectroscopy and mass spectroscopy. In the high pressure plasma, optical emission characteristics of glow layers are obviously different. C2, CH dominated band spectra and discrete spectra are distinctively observed in the positive column, whereas the emission intensity is found to decrease in the anode region. In the cathode region, a large number of complicated spectra are detected, which indicates the intensive interaction between the cathode and plasma under high pressure induces complicated atomic and molecular processes. With the the increase of pressure, electron excitation temperature decreases while gas rotational temperature goes up. High methane concentration causes increases in C2, C2H2 and C2H4 but a reduction in C2H6. Those suggest that the effect of gas temperature on gas phase process is significantly enhanced under high pressure.