High Degree of Dissociation of Nitrogen Molecules in Large-Volume Electron-Beam-Excited Plasma

The degree of dissociation of nitrogen is measured in a large-volume N2-Ar mixture plasma generated by an electron-beam-excited plasma device. The device features independent control of the beam current and energy. In setting the beam current and energy at 3.4 A and 140 V, the degree of dissociation of nitrogen was 0.16. The high degree of dissociation is attributed to the characteristics of the system in which the degree depends on the beam energy fed into the plasma and not the size of the chamber, as it is in conventional plasma sources. In view of the device characteristics, high-density atomic nitrogen can be obtained with electron-beam-excited plasma in a large-volume device.