Spatially resolved TALIF investigation of atomic oxygen in the effluent of a CO2 microwave discharge

A diagnostic setup for one-dimensionally spatially resolved TALIF detection of ground state oxygen atoms (2p4 3P2,1,0) is developed. The goal of this study is to investigate the evolution of temperatures and absolute number densities of oxygen atoms along the effluent of a low-pressure CO2 microwave discharge in order to gain insights into some of the mechanisms governing the post-discharge regime. The plasma source is operated at conditions of 600 W−1200 W of absorbed power with flow rates of 74 sccm and 370 sccm pure CO2 at pressures between 1.2 mbar and 5 mbar with specific energy inputs up to 111.9 eV/molecule. These operating conditions exhibit high CO2 conversions (up to 90 %) at low energy efficiencies (2−7.4 %), due to direct electron impact dissociation driving the conversion process resulting in splitting of CO2 into CO and metastable oxygen atoms. The TALIF measurements yield spatially resolved translational temperatures between 1000 K−1600 K for most operating conditions and axial positions along the effluent. Reference measurements with xenon 6p′ [3/2]2 are used for absolute number density calibration. The resulting axially resolved number density profiles of ground state atomic oxygen increase along the effluent, even at considerable distances of several centimeters from the active discharge, before they reach a maximum between 5×1020 m−3 and 2.2×1021 m−3 depending on the condition, and decrease after that. This behavior indicates the potential significance of quenching of metastable oxygen atoms within the post-discharge regime of the investigated CO2 discharges. The measured spatially resolved number density evolutions are qualitatively consistent with quenching via wall collisions being the dominant deactivation mechanism, underlining the importance of particle-wall interactions.