Optical emission characteristics of glow discharge in the N2–H2–Sn(CH3)4 and N2–Ar–Sn(CH3)4 mixtures

Optical emission spectroscopy (OES) and optical actinometry were used to investigate 100 kHz low-pressure discharge in nitrogen–hydrogen–tetramethyltin and nitrogen–argon–tetramethyltin mixtures. High energy species have been identified in plasma phase. The emission intensities of main species were monitored as a function of plasma composition. The influence of reactive gases on the decomposition of tetramethyltin was investigated and plasma processes were discussed. Glow discharge plasma was characterized by optical temperatures (the electron excitation temperatures of Sn, Ar, H, vibrational temperatures of CN, N2, N2+ and rotational temperature of N2+) and by the electron number density. The obtained results revealed a strong deviation of plasma from LTE state for both analyzed mixtures. The X-ray diffraction method was applied to investigate the structure of deposited materials, being solid products of the tetramethyltin decomposition.