Electrical and Optical Characteristics of RF Driven Hollow Slot Microplasmas in Open Air at Atmospheric Pressure
Abstract
The hollow slot discharge has been operated in open air at atmospheric pressure with pd values of sim10Torr-cm and E/N values of sim70 Td. It can sustain a plasma with rare gases or without in the open air. We have scaled the hollow slot length from quarter of inch to over a foot, and run it at RF frequencies of 4 MHz and 13.56 MHz. We measured the RF electrical characteristics of the plasma at the 13.56 MHz. Stable discharges, with sinusoidal currents, are obtained up to power densities of >180 kW/cm3, before non-sinusoidal currents and RF glow-to-arc transitions occur. We observed the optical spectra in the VUV region from the hollow slot atmosphere plasma with several different gases and their mixtures, including dry air, room air, argon, helium, nitrogen, and mixtures of these gases with oxygen and hydrogen. Atomic lines of Oxygen, Hydrogen and Nitrogen can been altered by the choice of gas concentration and discharge conditions. Potential applications of these sources are under investigation.
- Publication:
-
APS Annual Gaseous Electronics Meeting Abstracts
- Pub Date:
- October 2003
- Bibcode:
- 2003APS..GECNWP031Y