Title :
A novel circular micro-plasma magnetic field sensor
Author :
Fawole, O. ; Tabib-Azar, M.
Author_Institution :
Electr. & Comput. Eng., Univ. of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT, USA
Abstract :
We report a planar device with two co-axial electrodes for creating an atmospheric glow discharge (micro-plasma) that can easily rotate around an axis when a force is applied to the glow. When the device is placed in an external magnetic field, the glow experiences an accelerating Lorentz force and decelerating frictional and drag forces. Therefore, the glow rotates at an angular velocity proportional to the external magnetic field strength and to glow parameters such as electron/ion mobility. Hence, this device can be used both as a magnetic field sensor and a Hall-effect device, to measure carrier mobilities in micro-plasmas.
Keywords :
drag; force measurement; force sensors; glow discharges; magnetic field measurement; magnetic sensors; microelectrodes; microsensors; Hall-effect device; Lorentz force acceleration; atmospheric glow discharge; carrier mobility measurement; circular microplasma magnetic field sensor; coaxial electrode; drag force deceleration; electron-ion mobility; frictional force deceleration; magnetic field strength; planar device; Cathodes; Discharges (electric); Glow discharges; Ions; Magnetic field measurement; Magnetic fields; Plasmas; Atmospheric-pressure glow discharge; Hall-effect device; Magnetic sensor; Magnetomechanical effects; Micro-plasma devices;
Conference_Titel :
Solid-State Sensors, Actuators and Microsystems (TRANSDUCERS), 2015 Transducers - 2015 18th International Conference on
Conference_Location :
Anchorage, AK
DOI :
10.1109/TRANSDUCERS.2015.7181336
