Low-temperature direct current glow discharges at atmospheric pressure

Low-temperature direct current (dc) glow discharges were successfully generated at one atmospheric pressure with very low-power consumption in the level of several watts up to tens of watts. The glow discharges can be ignited and sustained in both continuous and pulsed modes, and can be run with several plasma gases including argon, helium, nitrogen, and air. Depending on the gas flow rate ranged from tens of millimeters per minute to several liters per minute, the glow discharges can be created and sustained in between the two planar electrodes or blown out of the discharge chamber to form low-temperature plasma brushes. The dc current to sustain the glow discharges is in the range of several milliamps to tens of milliamps. Temperature measurements using a thermocouple thermometer showed that the gas temperatures of the plasma brushes are close to room temperature when running with relatively high gas flow rates.