Interaction of Argon, Hydrogen and Oxygen Plasma Early Afterglow with Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC) Materials

Samples of PVC foils are exposed to an early afterglow of gaseous plasma created by an electrode-less RF discharge in predominant H-mode using Ar, H2 and O2 gases. Sample temperature is measured with a pyrometer while the presence of reaction products is determined with an optical spectrometer. The temporal evolution of major radiative species is measured. The results show that the samples are rather immune to the Ar afterglow. H2 afterglow causes substantial heating of the sample due to heterogeneous surface recombination of H-atoms, while O2 plasma treatment results in etching of the material which is substantial already at room temperature. The specific behaviour of reactive species is explained by taking into account spectrometer calibration curves, excitation energies and radiative species lifetimes.