Production of Molecular Oxygen using a Radio-Frequency Discharge in a Carbon Dioxide Gas Mixture

We have measured the concentration of molecular oxygen in a capacitively-coupled radio-frequency discharge in a carbon dioxide (CO$_{2})$ gas mixture. The gas mixture was composed of 95{\%} CO$_{2}$ and was maintained at a pressure of approximately 5 torr in order to simulate Martian atmospheric conditions. Continuous-wave cavity ring-down spectroscopy was used to measure the absolute concentration of ground state molecular oxygen in the discharge volume using the b-X (1,0) transition. Our results will be compared to the measurements and a numerical model of another group[1]. \newline [1] T.H. Dinh, Dissertation, Old Dominion University, Department of Physics (2002).