2025 Volume 20 Article ID: 1406051
An ECR (Electron Cyclotron Resonance) discharge can serve as an efficient atomic hydrogen beam source for a bio-molecule mass analysis system through detecting fragment ions produced from the HAD (Hydrogen Attachment/Abstraction Dissociation) process. A simple diagnostics system that measures the absorption of photons from a light emitting diode located at the opposite side of the ECR plasma is coupled to a 4 mm inner diameter glass tube discharge source driven by a 2.45 GHz microwave. The obtained result for a fixed microwave input power shows a simple linear correlation between the duty cycle and the absorption indicating the production rate of atomic hydrogen is constant over the discharge duration. The dependence of absorption rate upon the discharge power and that upon pressure indicated that the efficiency of the atomic hydrogen production rate tend to saturate at higher power and higher pressure. The wavelength spectrum of Balmer-α light emission showed a possibility that high-speed atomic hydrogen may exist in an intense ECR discharge.
