Interaction of weakly ionized highly dissociated hydrogen plasma with solid surfaces

Experimental study of the physical and chemical interaction of hydrogen plasma with a variety of samples is described. Hydrogen plasma was created by the use of an inductively coupled RF generator with the output power from 100 up to 300 W, Plasma parameters were measured with electrical and catalytic probes. At the pressure between 5 and 500 Pa the electron temperature was about 6 eV, plasma density of the order of 10(15) m(-3) and degree of dissociation about 10%, Recombination of neutral hydrogen atoms on different metals and alloys was studied. For the case of pure nickel the recombination coefficient was constant while for inconel it was a complex function of the temperature. Discharge cleaning experiments were performed on samples of contact materials, archeological artifacts and chip bases. The cleanliness of the surface was monitored with AES depth profiling and EMPA method, In any case, the layer of impurities was effectively removed from the sample surfaces by exposure to hydrogen plasma.