Atmospheric pressure plasmas

The probability for tliree-body collisions increases with increasing pressure making the use of an atmospheric pressure plasma desirable. The above process is used worldwide for ozone production for water purification. 

Storch D G and Kushner M J 1993 Destruction mechanisms for formaldehyde in atmospheric pressure low temperature plasmas J. Appl. Phys. 73 51-5... 

The positive column is a region in which atoms, electrons, and ions are all present together in similar numbers, and it is referred to as a plasma. Again, as with the corona discharge, in mass spectrometry, plasmas are usually operated in gases at or near atmospheric pressure. 

The various stages of this process depend critically on the type of gas, its pressure, and the configuration of the electrodes. (Their distance apart and their shapes control the size and shape of the applied electric field.) By controlling the various parameters, the discharge can be made to operate as a corona, a plasma, or an arc at atmospheric pressure. All three discharges can be used as ion sources in mass spectrometry. 

The end or front of the plasma flame impinges onto a metal plate (the cone or sampler or sampling cone), which has a small hole in its center (Figure 14.2). The region on the other side of the cone from the flame is under vacuum, so the ions and neutrals passing from the atmospheric-pressure hot flame into a vacuum space are accelerated to supersonic speeds and cooled as rapid expansion occurs. A supersonic jet of gas passes toward a second metal plate (the skimmer) containing a hole smaller than the one in the sampler, where ions pass into the mass analyzer. The sampler and skimmer form an interface between the plasma flame and the mass analyzer. A light... 

In a cascade process, one incident electron (e ) collides with a neutral atom ((S)) to produce a second electron and an ion ( ). Now there are two electrons and one ion. These two electrons collide with another neutral atom to produce four electrons and three ions. This process continues rapidly and — after about 20 successive sets of collisions — there are millions of electrons and ions. (The mean free path between collisions is very small at atmospheric pressures.) A typical atmospheric-pressure plasma will contain 10 each of electrons and ions per milliliter. Some ions and electrons are lost by recombination to reform neutral atoms, with emission of light. 

Ions produced in the plasma must be transferred to a mass analyzer. The flame is very hot and at atmospheric pressure, but the mass analyzer is at room temperature and under vacuum. To effect transfer of ions from the plasma to the analyzer, the interface must be as efficient as possible if ion yields from the plasma are to be maintained in the analyzer. 

The term nebulizer is used generally as a description for any spraying device, such as the hair spray mentioned above. It is normally applied to any means of forming an aerosol spray in which a volume of liquid is broken into a mist of vapor and small droplets and possibly even solid matter. There is a variety of nebulizer designs for transporting a solution of analyte in droplet form to a plasma torch in ICP/MS and to the inlet/ionization sources used in electrospray and mass spectrometry (ES/MS) and atmospheric-pressure chemical ionization and mass spectrometry (APCI/MS). 

El = electron ionization Cl = chemical ionization ES = electrospray APCI = atmospheric-pressure chemical ionization MALDI = matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization PT = plasma torch (isotope ratios) TI = thermal (surface) ionization (isotope ratios). 

When mass spectrometry was first used as a routine analytical tool, El was the only commercial ion source. As needs have increased, more ionization methods have appeared. Many different types of ionization source have been described, and several of these have been produced commercially. The present situation is such that there is now only a limited range of ion sources. For vacuum ion sources, El is still widely used, frequently in conjunction with Cl. For atmospheric pressure ion sources, the most frequently used are ES, APCI, MALDI (lasers), and plasma torches. 

There are different conditions for producing a plasma, which can be started in gases at low or high (atmospheric) pressures. In a plasma torch, a flow of argon gas is used at atmospheric pressure. 

Dielectric Film Deposition. Dielectric films are found in all VLSI circuits to provide insulation between conducting layers, as diffusion and ion implantation (qv) masks, for diffusion from doped oxides, to cap doped films to prevent outdiffusion, and for passivating devices as a measure of protection against external contamination, moisture, and scratches. Properties that define the nature and function of dielectric films are the dielectric constant, the process temperature, and specific fabrication characteristics such as step coverage, gap-filling capabihties, density stress, contamination, thickness uniformity, deposition rate, and moisture resistance (2). Several processes are used to deposit dielectric films including atmospheric pressure CVD (APCVD), low pressure CVD (LPCVD), or plasma-enhanced CVD (PECVD) (see Plasma technology). 

At atmospheric pressure, the conversion to trichlorosilane is limited to about 16%. The conversion of SiCl to HSiCl was found to be at equiUbrium. If contact time was greater than 45 s and the mole ratio of hydrogen to siUcon tetrachloride 1 1, then at 14 kPa (2 psi) and 550°C, the HSiCl mole fraction reached 0.7 but substantial formation of H2SiCl2 occurred (62). Enhancements in yield have been reported through preactivating the siUcon mass by removal of oxides (73) and the rapid thermal quench of the effluent gas stream (74). The reduction of siUcon tetrachloride in a plasma has also been reported (75). 

The part that marries the plasma to the mass spectrometer in ICPMS is the interfacial region. This is where the 6000° C argon plasma couples to the mass spectrometer. The interface must transport ions from the atmospheric pressure of the plasma to the 10 bar pressures within the mass spectrometer. This is accomplished using an expansion chamber with an intermediate pressure. The expansion chamber consists of two cones, a sample cone upon which the plasma flame impinges and a skimmer cone. The region between these is continuously pumped. 

The useful temperature range is lower than that of Reaction (1) with 800°C being typical. A pressure of approximately 10 Torr is typical, although atmospheric pressure can also be used.P l Plasma CVD has been used with Reactions (2) and (3) to deposit SiC at considerably lower temperatures (200-500°C).P l... 

Both reactions may take place simultaneously at a deposition temperature of 450°C and at atmospheric pressure. Reaction (1) can also take place in a plasma at 15-300 mTorr and in a temperature range of200-300°C with a silane-to-oxygen ratio of 10/1 in a flow of argon or helium. These two reactions are used to produce doped silica by adding a doping gas such as diborane (B2H ) or phosphine (PH3) to the stream. 

Deposition temperature is 800°C and either atmospheric pressure or low pressure is used. This reaction can also be carried out in a plasma at very low pressure and at much lower temperature (450°C). P ] A silicon substrate, such as the silicon wafer itself or a thin predeposited layer of silicon, may be used as the silicon source with the... 

Carr, J. W., 2001, Atmospheric Pressure Plasma Processing for Damage-Free Optics and Surfaces, Engineering Research Development and Technology -FY-99. Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, p. 3 1... 

A thermal plasma system has been developed for the decomposition of methane. A schematic diagram of the experimental apparatus is shown in Fig. 1. The system consists primarily of D.C. plasma torch, plasma reactor and filter assembly. Plasma was discharged between a tungsten cathode and a copper anode using N2 gas. All the experiments were carried out at atmospheric pressure at 6 kW input electric power and N2 flow rate of 10 to 12 1/min. The feed gas (CH4) flow rates were varied from 3 to 15 1/min depending on the operating conditions, shown in Table. 1. 

As a more sensitive detection method, MS can be very useful in amino acid determinations. For example, S-carboxymethyl-(R) cysteine or SCMC, is a mucolytic agent used in the treatment of respiratory diseases. The development of a method utilizing high performance IEC and atmospheric pressure ionization (API) mass spectrometry to quantify SCMC in plasma has been described.66 This method is simple (no derivatization needed), rapid (inn time 16 min.), sensitive (limit of quantification 200 ng/mL in human plasma), and has an overall throughput of more than 60 analyses per day. API-MS was used successfully with IEC to determine other sulfur-containing amino acids and their cyclic compounds in human urine.67 IEC has also been used as a cleanup step for amino acids prior to their derivatization and analysis by gas chromatography (GC), either alone or in conjunction with MS.68 69... 

Anacardio, R., Cantalini, M.G., De Angelis, F., and Gentile, M., Quantification of S-carboxymethyl-(R)-cysteine in human plasma by high-performance ion-exchange liquid chromatography/atmospheric pressure ionization mass spectrometry, /. Mass Spectrom., 32, 388, 1997. 

Fast atom bombardment (FAB) Plasma desorption (PD) Liquid secondary-ion mass spectrometry (LSIMS) Thermospray (TSP)/plasmaspray (PSP) Electrohydrodynamic ionisation (EHI) Multiphoton ionisation (MPI) Atmospheric pressure chemical ionisation (APCI) Electrospray ionisation (ESI) Ion spray (ISP) Matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionisation (MALDI) Atmospheric pressure photoionisation (APPI) Triple quadrupole (QQQ) Four sector (EBEB) Hybrid (EBQQ) Hybrid (EB-ToF, Q-ToF) Tandem ToF-ToF Photomultiplier... 

Principles and Characteristics Ion mobility spectrometry (IMS) is an instrumental technique for the detection and characterisation of organic compounds as vapours at atmospheric pressure. Modern analytical IMS was created at the end of the 1960s from studies on ion-molecule chemistry with mass spectrometers and from ionisation detectors for vapour monitoring. An ion mobility spectrometer (or plasma chromatograph in the original termininology) was first produced in 1970 [272],... 

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