Active-Current-Controlled Atmospheric-Plasma Generation Using a Plasma-on-a-Chip

An active-current-controlled bias scheme is proposed for atmospheric-plasma generation using a plasma-on-a-chip. A current mirror circuit was used for a pulsed atmospheric discharge. The circuit was able to suppress the discharge current overflow during the glow discharge, which has been known to cause an arc transition. It was successfully demonstrated that such an active-current-controlled scheme can improve the stability of the atmospheric plasma and the lifetime of a plasma-on-a-chip. Moreover, the generated atmospheric plasma was diagnosed by using N₂ emission spectra. Electron temperatures for varying the bias conditions were also evaluated.