QUANTITATIVE SPECTRAL MEASUREMENT OF AIR LEAKS INTO PLASMA REACTORS

An adaptation of the classical ''standard addition'' technique has bee n implemented to quantitatively measure the magnitude of an air leak i nto the gas lines of any plasma reactor. This measurement can be run o n any original equipment manufacturer plasma reactor equipped with som e means for the spectral analysis of the plasma. The only additional r equirement is a mass flow controller used to make the incremental air (or N-2) additions to generate an in situ calibration curve. The techn ique can be readily automated to provide a diagnostic of hardware inte grity. (C) 1995 American Vacuum Society.