Nonthermal and nonequilibrium effects in high-power pulsed ICP and application to surface modification of materials

Newly developed pulse-modulated high-power inductively coupled plasma (ICP) is expected to offer the unique physicochemical condition, such as the increased concentration of chemically reactive species, as well as the appropriate heat flux for materials processing. Two kinds of oxide materials, titanium and zinc oxide, were placed at the downstream of Ar-H-2 ICP and irradiated in the plasma of continuous (CN) and pulse-modulated (PM) model, The CN-ICP irradiation at the position close to the plasma tail gave rise to the thermal reduction of oxides. In the PM-ICP irradiation, the degree of thermal reduction depended on the lower power level during pulse-off time, as well as the total electric power. Irradiation in PM-ICP led to the increased formation of oxygen vacancies in titanium dioxide. In the case of zinc oxide, the UV emission efficiency was improved by PM-ICP irradiation, while the green emission became predominant by CN-ICP irradiation at the appropriate position. Induced effects in the two oxides by PM-ICP would be related to the high concentration of hydrogen radicals in the plasma.