Glow discharge

NE-2 type neon lamp powered by alternating current
Glow discharge in a low-pressure tube caused by electric current. Performed by Prof. Oliver Zajkov at the Physics Institute at the Ss. Cyril and Methodius University of Skopje, Macedonia.

A glow discharge is a plasma formed by the passage of electric current through a low-pressure gas. It is created by applying a voltage between two metal electrodes in a glass tube containing gas. When the voltage exceeds a certain value called the striking voltage, the gas in the tube ionizes, becoming a plasma, and begins conducting electricity, causing it to glow with a colored light. The color depends on the gas used. Glow discharge is widely used as a source of light in devices such as neon lights, fluorescent lamps, and plasma-screen televisions. Analyzing the light produced by spectroscopy can reveal much about the atomic interactions in the gas, so glow discharge is used in plasma physics and analytical chemistry. It is also used in the surface treatment technique called sputtering.

Basic operating mechanism

A Crookes tube illustrating the different glowing regions that make up a glow discharge and a diagram giving their names.

The simplest type of glow discharge is a direct-current glow discharge. In its simplest form, it consists of two electrodes in a cell held at low pressure (0.1–10 torr; about 1/10000th to 1/100th of atmospheric pressure). The cell is typically filled with neon, but other gases can also be used. An electric potential of several hundred volts is applied between the two electrodes. A small fraction of the population of atoms within the cell is initially ionized through random processes (thermal collisions between atoms or with gamma rays, for example). The ions (which are positively charged) are driven towards the cathode by the electric potential, and the electrons are driven towards the anode by the same potential. The initial population of ions and electrons collides with other atoms, ionizing them. As long as the potential is maintained, a population of ions and electrons remains.

Current-voltage curve (characteristic curve) of a discharge in neon gas at a pressure of 1 torr, showing the different regions. The vertical (current) scale is logarithmic.

Some of the ions' kinetic energy is transferred to the cathode. This happens partially through the ions striking the cathode directly. The primary mechanism, however, is less direct. Ions strike the more numerous neutral gas atoms, transferring a portion of their energy to them. These neutral atoms then strike the cathode. Whichever species (ions or atoms) strike the cathode, collisions within the cathode redistribute this energy until a portion of the cathode is ejected, typically in the form of free atoms. This process is known as sputtering. Once free of the cathode, atoms move into the bulk of the glow discharge through drift and due to the energy they gained from sputtering. The atoms can then be excited by collisions with ions, electrons, or other atoms that have been previously excited by collisions. Once excited, atoms will lose their energy fairly quickly. Of the various ways that this energy can be lost, the most important is radiatively, meaning that a photon is released to carry the energy away. In optical atomic spectroscopy, the wavelength of this photon can be used to determine the identity of the atom (that is, which chemical element it is) and the number of photons is directly proportional to the concentration of that element in the sample. Some collisions (those of high enough energy) will cause ionization. In atomic mass spectrometry, these ions are detected. Their mass identifies the type of atoms and their quantity reveals the amount of that element in the sample.

The figure above shows the main regions that may be present in a glow discharge. Regions described as "glows" emit significant light; regions labeled as "dark spaces" do not. As the discharge becomes more extended (i.e., stretched horizontally in the geometry of the figure), the positive column may become striated. That is, alternating dark and bright regions may form. Compressing the discharge horizontally will result in fewer regions. The positive column will be compressed while the negative glow will remain the same size, and, with small enough gaps, the positive column will disappear altogether. In an analytical glow discharge, the discharge is primarily a negative glow with dark region above and below it.

Below the ionization voltage or breakdown voltage there is no glow, but as the voltage increases to the ionization point the Townsend discharge happens just as glow discharge becomes visible; this is the start of the normal glow range. As the voltage is increased above the normal glow range, abnormal glow begins. If the voltage is increased to the point the cathode glow covers the entire cathode arc discharge begins.[1]

Use in analytical chemistry

Glow discharges can be used to analyze the elemental, and sometimes molecular, composition of solids, liquids, and gases, but elemental analysis of solids is the most common. In this arrangement, the sample is used as the cathode. As mentioned earlier, gas ions and atoms striking the sample surface knock atoms off of it, a process known as sputtering. The sputtered atoms, now in the gas phase, can be detected by atomic absorption, but this is a comparatively rare strategy. Instead, atomic emission and mass spectrometry are usually used. Collisions between the gas-phase sample atoms and the plasma gas pass energy to the sample atoms. This energy can excite the atoms, after which they can lose their energy through atomic emission. By observing the wavelength of the emitted light, the atom's identity can be determined. By observing the intensity of the emission, the concentration of atoms of that type can be determined. Energy gained through collisions can also ionize the sample atoms. The ions can then be detected by mass spectrometry. In this case, it is the mass of the ions that identify the element and the number of ions that reflect the concentration. This method is referred to as glow discharge mass spectrometry (GDMS) and it has detection limits down to the sub-ppb range for most elements that are nearly matrix-independent.

Both bulk and depth analysis of solids may be performed with glow discharge. Bulk analysis assumes that the sample is fairly homogeneous and averages the emission or mass spectrometric signal over time. Depth analysis relies on tracking the signal in time, therefore, is the same as tracking the elemental composition in depth. Depth analysis requires greater control over operational parameters. For example, conditions (current, potential, pressure) need to be adjusted so that the crater produced by sputtering is flat bottom (that is, so that the depth analyzed over the crater area is uniform). In bulk measurement, a rough or rounded crater bottom would not adversely impact analysis. Under the best conditions, depth resolution in the single nanometer range has been achieved (in fact, within-molecule resolution has been demonstrated).

The chemistry of ions and neutrals in vacuum is called gas phase ion chemistry and is part of the analytical study that includes glow discharge.

Powering modes

DC powered neon lamp, showing glow discharge surrounding only the cathode

In analytical chemistry, glow discharges are most often operated in direct-current mode. For this mode, the cathode (which is the sample in solids analysis) must be conductive. The potential, pressure, and current are interrelated. Only two can be directly controlled at once, while the third must be allowed to vary. The pressure is most typically held constant, but other schemes may be used. The pressure and current may be held constant, while potential is allowed to vary. The pressure and voltage may be held constant while the current is allowed to vary. The power (product of voltage and current) may be held constant while the pressure is allowed to vary.

Glow discharges may also be operated in radio-frequency. The use of this frequency will establish a negative DC-bias voltage on the sample surface. The DC-bias is the result of an alternating current waveform that is centered about negative potential; as such it more or less represent the average potential residing on the sample surface. Radio-frequency has ability to appear to flow through insulators (non-conductive materials).

Both radio-frequency and direct-current glow discharges can be operated in pulsed mode, where the potential is turned on and off. This allows higher instantaneous powers to be applied without excessively heating the cathode. These higher instantaneous powers produce higher instantaneous signals, aiding detection. Combining time-resolved detection with pulsed powering results in additional benefits. In atomic emission, analyte atoms emit during different portions of the pulse than background atoms, allowing the two to be discriminated. Analogously, in mass spectrometry, sample and background ions are created at different times.

Types

There are various types of glow discharge examples include: high pressure glow discharge, hollow cathode discharge, spray discharge.

Application to analog computing

An interesting application for using glow discharge was described in a 2002 scientific paper by Ryes, Ghanem et al.[2] According to a Nature news article describing the work,[3] researchers at Imperial College London demonstrated how they built a mini-map that glows along the shortest route between two points. The Nature news article describes the system as follows:

To make the one-inch London chip, the team etched a plan of the city centre on a glass slide. Fitting a flat lid over the top turned the streets into hollow, connected tubes. They filled these with helium gas, and inserted electrodes at key tourist hubs. When a voltage is applied between two points, electricity naturally runs through the streets along the shortest route from A to B - and the gas glows like a tiny neon strip light.

The approach itself provides a novel visible analog computing approach for solving a wide class of maze searching problems based on the properties of lighting up of a glow discharge in a microfluidic chip.

Application to voltage regulation

A 5651 voltage-regulator tube in operation

In the mid-20th century, prior to the development of solid state components such as Zener diodes, voltage regulation in circuits was often accomplished with voltage-regulator tubes, which used glow discharge.

See also

References

  1. ↑ Principles of Electronics By V.K. Mehta ISBN 81-219-2450-2
  2. ↑ Reyes, D. R.; Ghanem, M. M.; Whitesides, G. M.; Manz, A. (2002). "Glow discharge in microfluidic chips for visible analog computing". Lab on a Chip. ACS. 2 (2): 113–6. doi:10.1039/B200589A. PMID 15100843.
  3. ↑ Mini-map gives tourists neon route signs: http://www.nature.com/news/2002/020527/full/news020520-12.html

Further reading

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