The influences of gas and electron temperatures on electron attachment in gas electrical discharges

Various electron attachment processes are reviewed, emphasising the way in which the rates and products of some selected reactions vary with the attaching gas temperatureT _g, the temperature,T _e, and the energy of the attaching electrons. The examples illustrating the variety of reactions are the efficient dissociative attachment reaction to CCl₄, attachment to SF₆ which involves both dissociative and non-dissociative attachment, attachment to CHCl₃ which requires activation energy, and attachment to CCl₃Br which results in both Cl- and Br- product ions. A model has been presented which is able to quantitatively explain the difference influences ofT _g andT _e on the rates of some of these reactions. Also described are the unusually efficient attachment properties of the fullerene molecules C₆₀ and C₇₀ as revealed by our FALP experiments, noting that these molecules have potential importance as efficient suppressers of electrical breakdown through gases such as those used to insulate high voltage devices. We emphasise throughout this paper the importance of an understanding of the separate influences of gas and electron temperature on attachment reactions for the modelling of practical gas discharge media such as etchant plasmas. We dedicate this paper to Professor Jan Janča on the occasion of his sixtieth birthday in recognition of his major contributions to gas discharge physics.