A Foldable Microplasma-Generation Device on a Paper Substrate

We report the fabrication of a plasma-generating device on a paper substrate. This device was fabricated using a screen print process. Plasmas were ignited between two parallel electrodes with a plasma gap of 237 to 710 μm using a dc power source. We demonstrated that a stable helium plasma can be sustained when the substrate is flat, rolled, and folded along various orientations. When the plasma was ignited with a 0.2-μL salt solution droplet with 1.4, 4.6, and 7.8 ng of Li, Na, and K respectively applied to the discharge gap, clear metallic emission lines emanated from the plasma. Our result demonstrates that this paper-based plasma device can be used in analytical applications.