We describe measurements of plasma properties of pulsed, low pressure, capacitively coupled discharges operated in argon. The study aims to determine the effect of modulating the radiofrequency power during the discharge part of the pulse cycle. Measurements of local electron density and optical emission were made in capacitively coupled rf discharges generated in a Gaseous Electronics Conference (GEC) reference reactor. Gas pressure was in the range 7–70 Pa, rf power in the range 1–100 W and pulse durations in the range 10 µs–100 ms. The results indicate that the ignition and afterglow decay processes in pulsed discharges can be controlled by modulating the shape of applied radiofrequency pulse.
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