Effect of reactor loading on atomic oxygen concentration as measured by NO chemiluminescence

It has previously been observed that the etch rate of polyethylene samples in the afterglow of an RF discharge in oxygen increases with reactor loading. This enhancement of the etch rate is attributed to reactive gas phase products of the polymer etching. In the present work, emission spectroscopy is employed to examine the species present in the gas phase during etching of polyethylene. In particular, the concentration of atomic oxygen downstream from the polyethylene samples is studied as a function of the reactor loading. It is found that the concentration of atomic oxygen increases as the reactor loading is increased. The increase of etch rate with increased reactor loading is attributed to the increase of atomic oxygen concentration in the vicinity of the sample.