Microwave boosted glow discharge source using a slab-line cavity

Abstract

The microwave boosted glow discharge source (GDS) developed by Leis et al. gives improved analytical performance compared with a Grimm GDS, but is somewhat inflexible and unsuitable for more detailed studies of the effects produced by the supplementary discharge. A simple and flexible form of microwave boosted GDS employing a slab-line microwave cavity is described. The source was designed for investigations on fundamental excitation processes in unboosted and microwave boosted GDS. The preliminary results show that the electrical and spectral properties of this source exhibit similar general trends to those of the ‘Leis’ source, but the more flexible structure will allow more detailed studies of these properties.