Local optical emission spectroscopy of excited species effused from an evaporation cell and a sputter source into dense plasmas – Basic studies for the deposition of thin gradient films

Space resolved optical emission spectroscopy has been applied to determine the distribution of excited species in dense plasmas which are used for the deposition of thin coatings. Typical electron densities and electron temperatures in the plasma facility PETRA ( Plasma Engineering and Technology Research Assembly) are in the range of n(e) = 10(12) cm(-3) and T(e) = 10 eV. During the deposition process material (Al) is evaporated from a vapour cell under controlled conditions. The vapour stream is guided into a dense plasma which is composed of inert gas, Ar or He, and hydrocarbon species produced from the dissociation of C(2)H(2). The evaporated Al-stream which travels with thermal velocity into a plasma of high electron density, is nearly completely ionized due to the short mean free path for electron impact ionization in the above mentioned parameter range. Optical emission spectroscopy has been applied to investigate the interaction processes between the vapour stream and the plasma as well as the transport of the ionized Al along the applied magnetic field. For the measurements space resolved optical emission spectroscopy with an in-situ translation mechanism of the optical fibre has been used to measure the local concentrations of excited Al neutrals and ions as well as the concentration of the background plasma species.     

First observation of lasing at 231 Å in neon-like nickel using the prepulse technique

We report lasing for the first time in nickel on the neon-like J=01, 3p3s transition at 231 Å as well as several weaker transitions including the J=2»1 lines at 298 Å and 304 Å. Amplification is seen only when the prepulse technique of using a low intensity prepulse before the main optical drive pulse is used to illuminate the nickel target. The prepulse technique is also shown to produce lasing in copper and dramatically improve the output of the germanium laser.     

Phase space structure and chaotic scattering in near-integrable systems

We investigate the bifurcation phenomena and the change in phase space structure connected with the transition from regular to chaotic scattering in classical systems with unbounded dynamics. The regular systems discussed in this paper are integrable ones in the sense of Liouville, possessing a degenerated unstable periodic orbit at infinity. By means of a McGehee transformation the degeneracy can be removed and the usual Melnikov method is applied to predict homoclinic crossings of stable and unstable manifolds for the perturbed system. The chosen examples are the perturbed radial Kepler problem and two kinetically coupled Morse oscillators with different potential parameters which model the stretching dynamics in ABC molecules. The calculated subharmonic and homoclinic Melnikov functions can be used to prove the existence of chaotic scattering and of elliptic and hyperbolic periodic orbits, to calculate the width of the main stochastic layer and of the resonances, and to predict the range of initial conditions where singularities in the scattering function are found. In the second example the value of the perturbation parameter at which channel transitions set in is calculated. The theoretical results are supplemented by numerical experiments.     

Determination of platinum and palladium in strongly acid solution by means of flow injection analysis

Microamounts of Pt(II/IV) (0.25–800 μg/ml) and Pd(II) (5–600 μg/ml) in> 0.5 M hydrochloric acid can readily be determined by means of a simple FIA method based on the selective reaction of tin(II)chloride with these metals. The FIA method has a high linear dynamic range, and is relatively free from interferences of many transition metals, with the exception of Au and Rh; small amounts of other PGMs can be tolerated. Determination of Pt on a hydrogenation catalyst by this method compares well with that found by flame atomic absorption spectroscopy. By monitoring at two or more wavelengths, Pt and Pd can be determined in mixtures by this means, to yield a simple, cost-effective FIA method for possible on-line determinations and quality control of, in particular, Pt containing acidic refinery and other process streams.