Plasma Chemical Study of a RF Discharge Containing Aluminum Tri‐Isopropoxide Using MIR Absorption Spectroscopy Based on External‐Cavity Quantum Cascade Lasers

In Ar and Ar/N2 RF plasmas with admixtures of aluminum tri‐isopropoxide (ATI) the fragmentation of this metal‐organic precursor has been studied by means of infrared absorption spectroscopy (IR‐AS) using an external‐cavity quantum cascade laser (EC‐QCL) arrangement. The experiments were performed in an asymmetric capacitively coupled reactor at a frequency of f = 13.56 MHz and a pressure of up to p = 10 Pa. The discharge power was in the range of P = 40 – 100 W. Using EC‐QCLAS the evolution of the concentrations of six stable molecules, CH4, C2H2, C2H4, H2O, HCN and HNO3, has been monitored in the plasma. The concentrations of these plasma chemical products were found to be in the range of about 7 × 1012 – 2 × 1014 molecules cm–3 (© 2012 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)