Analysis of Low-Temperature Plasma by Optical Emission Spectroscopy with Spatial Scanning

An automated device is described that makes it possible to obtain maps of the spatial distribution of the composition and intensity of the components of the optical emission spectra of an activated gaseous medium, as well as to conduct thermometry using machine-learning methods based on a quick comparison of calculated and experimentally recorded radiation spectra. The interpreted Python programming language with a set of specialized libraries was used both to automate the registration of spectra and to analyze them using machine-learning methods. The apparatus was tested based on the example of a methane-hydrogen gas medium activated by a direct current discharge in an apparatus for the plasma–chemical deposition of carbon nanomaterials. The software of the automated apparatus allows one to supplement the measurement procedure by including additional software modules without changing the program code of the main control program.