Miyahara Hidekazu, Iwai Takahiro, Kaburaki Yuki, Kozuma Tomokazu, Shigeta Kaori, Okino Akitoshi
Department of Energy Sciences, Tokyo Institute of Technology.
Anal Sci. 2014;30(2):231-5. doi: 10.2116/analsci.30.231.
A new inductively coupled plasma (ICP) torch with an air-cooling system has been designed and developed for both argon and helium plasma. The same torch and impedance-matching network could be used to generate stable Ar- and He-ICP. The torch consists of three concentric quartz tubes. The carrier gas, plasma gas, and cooling gas flow through the intervals between each tube. In an experiment, it was found that Ar-ICP could form a stable plasma under the following conditions: RF power of 1 kW, plasma gas flow rate of 11 L min(-1), and cooling gas flow rate of 20 L min(-1). For He-ICP, an input RF power of 2 kW, which is two-times higher than that of a conventional He-ICP, could be constantly applied to the plasma with plasma gas and cooling gas flow rates of 15 and 20 L min(-1), respectively. Using this torch, it is possible to realize lower plasma gas consumption for Ar- and He-ICP and a high-power drive for He-ICP. It has been found that the air-cooling gas stabilizes the shape of the plasma due to the pressure difference between the cooling gas and the plasma gas.
一种带有空气冷却系统的新型电感耦合等离子体（ICP）炬已被设计和开发出来，可用于氩气和氦气等离子体。同一炬管和阻抗匹配网络可用于产生稳定的氩气和氦气ICP。该炬管由三根同心石英管组成。载气、等离子体气和冷却气分别流经各管之间的间隙。实验发现，氩气ICP在以下条件下可形成稳定的等离子体：射频功率1kW、等离子体气流量11L·min⁻¹、冷却气流量20L·min⁻¹。对于氦气ICP，输入射频功率2kW（是传统氦气ICP的两倍），在等离子体气流量和冷却气流量分别为15L·min⁻¹和20L·min⁻¹时，可持续施加于等离子体。使用这种炬管，可以实现氩气和氦气ICP更低的等离子体气消耗以及氦气ICP的高功率驱动。已发现，由于冷却气和等离子体气之间的压力差，空气冷却气使等离子体形状稳定。
