Determination of the Electron Density and Electron Temperature in A Magnetron Discharge Plasma Using Optical Spectroscopy and the Collisional-Radiative Model of Argon

A method for determining the electron temperature and electron density in a plasma is proposed that is based on minimization of the difference between the experimental relative intensities of the spectral argon (Ar) lines and those same intensities calculated with the aid of the collisional-radiative model. The model describes the kinetics of the ground state and 40 excited states of the Ar atom and takes into account the following processes: excitation and deactivation of the states of the atom by electron impact, radiative decay of the excited states, self-absorption of radiation, ionization of excited states by electron impact, and quenching of metastable states as a consequence of collisions with the chamber walls. Using the given method, we have investigated the plasma of a magnetron discharge on a laboratory setup for intermediate-frequency magnetron sputtering for a few selected operating regimes.