Characteristics of atmospheric pressure plasma jet generated by compact and inexpensive high voltage modulator

An atmospheric pressure plasma jet has been successfully generated using a compact high voltage modulator driven by 12 V alkaline batteries. A jet nozzle was composed of a quartz tube with two cylindrical electrodes. The grounded electrode was rolled on the tube and the powered one was inserted in the tube for discharging at lower voltage. V–Q Lissajous analysis of the plasma jet indicated that energy and power consumed for the plasma generation were linear along the distance between the electrodes. Length of the plasma plume from the tip of the tube was 11 mm for the gap length of 5 mm and the input voltage DC of 12 V. At the input voltage, the energy and power consumed for the plasma generation were 4.1 μJ and 0.12 W, respectively. Optical emission spectroscopy analysis of the plasma showed that the plasma contained hydroxyl radicals and exited nitrogen molecules which are chemically active species. The plasma jet can be applied to plasma cleaning for material surface though was generated with the alkaline batteries.