Direct current glow discharges in atmospheric air

Author

Mohamed, Abdel-Aleam H. ; Block, Rolf ; Schoenbach, Karl H.

Author_Institution

Phys. Electron. Res. Inst., Old Dominion Univ., Norfolk, VA, USA

Volume

30

Issue

1

fYear

2002

fDate

2/1/2002 12:00:00 AM

Firstpage

182

Lastpage

183

Abstract

A microhollow cathode discharge was used as plasma cathode to sustain a stable direct current glow discharge in atmospheric pressure air. The length of the glow discharge column was varied from 1 mm to 2 cm, with the sustaining voltage increasing linearly with length. For glow discharges with currents on the order of 10 mA, the electron density in the air plasmas exceeded 10¹¹ cm^-3, with highest values of almost 10¹³ cm^-3 close to the plasma cathode. When two 8.5-mA discharges were operated in parallel, at a distance of 0.4 cm, the discharge plasmas were found to merge for electrode gaps exceeding 0.5 cm, an effect that can be used to generate large volume, homogenous air plasmas

Keywords

air; glow discharges; plasma diagnostics; plasma pressure; plasma transport processes; 1 mm to 2 cm; 10 mA; 8.5 mA; air plasmas; atmospheric air; atmospheric pressure air; direct current; direct current glow discharges; discharge plasmas; electrode gaps; glow discharge column length; homogenous air plasmas; microhollow cathode discharge; plasma cathode; stable direct current glow discharge; Atmospheric-pressure plasmas; Cathodes; Electrodes; Electron emission; Fault location; Glow discharges; Plasma density; Plasma measurements; Plasma stability; Surface discharges;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Plasma Science, IEEE Transactions on

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0093-3813

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/TPS.2002.1003984

Filename

1003984