Abstract
The distribution of TiO2 nanoparticles in a plasma plume of a hollow cathode plasma jet is being studied in this work. The method is based on the detection of light from a laser beam scattered on nanoparticles by three detectors: a photodiode, an optical spectrometer and a digital photo camera.
The Rayleigh-Mie theory was used as a basis for the description of the results. Two lasers with wavelengths of 446 and 661 nm were used as light sources. 2D maps of the scattered light intensity were assembled from photo camera pictures at different discharge parameters.
Dependencies of the signal intensity on the O-2 flow rate and wavelength are discussed. Direct measurements of particle size on the substrate were carried out by means of a scanning electron microscope in order to verify the agreement of results with the theory.
Aside from nanoparticles we detected TiO2 columnar structures in the deposited samples. Crystalline structure of the samples was investigated using x-ray diffraction analysis.