Abstract
The effect of the electron energy distribution function (EEDF) on the population distribution of excited states is investigated in He and Ar plasmas sustained by a 2.45 GHz microwave at a discharge pressure of 1–5 Torr. The EEDF is measured with a Langmuir probe by Druyvesteyn's method and used as the input parameter of the collisional-radiative (CR) model calculation. The calculated population density of the excited states is compared with the results of optical emission spectroscopic measurement. Reasonable agreement is found between them. It is also confirmed that the measured EEDFs was depleted at energies above the first excitation potential of the discharge gas atoms. When we assume a Maxwellian EEDF and calculate the population distribution of excited states of the argon plasma, we find a marked discrepancy between the populations of excited states observed experimentally and those calculated by the CR model, while a discrepancy for the helium plasma is also found but is less marked.