Effects of argon dilution on the translational and rotational temperatures of SiH in silane and disilane plasmas

The effects of argon dilution on the translational and rotational temperatures of SiH in both silane and disilane plasmas have been investigated using the imaging of radicals interacting with surfaces (IRIS) technique. The average rotational temperature of SiH determined from the SiH excitation spectra is approximately 500 K in both SiH(4)/Ar and Si(2)H(6)/Ar plasmas, with no obvious dependence on the fraction of argon dilution. Modeling of kinetic data yields average SiH translational temperatures of approximately 1000 K, with no dependence on the fraction of argon in the SiH(4)/Ar plasmas within the studied range. In the Si(2)H(6)/Ar plasmas, however, the translational temperature decreases from approximately 1000 to approximately 550 K as the Ar fraction in the plasma increases. Thus, at the highest Ar fractions, the translational and rotational temperatures are nearly identical, indicating that the SiH radicals are thermally equilibrated. The underlying chemistry and mechanisms of SiH energy equilibration in Ar-diluted plasmas are discussed.