Wide-pressure-range coplanar dielectric barrier discharge: Operational characterisation of a versatile plasma source

Many plasma applications could benefit from the versatile plasma source operable at a wide-pressure-range, e.g., from the fraction of Pa to the super-atmospheric conditions. In this paper, the basic characteristics of wide-pressure-range plasma source based on the coplanar dielectric barrier dischar...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Physics of plasmas 2017-01, Vol.24 (1)
Main Authors: Čech, J., Bonaventura, Z., Sťahel, P., Zemánek, M., Dvořáková, H., Černák, M.
Format: Article
Language:English
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Summary:Many plasma applications could benefit from the versatile plasma source operable at a wide-pressure-range, e.g., from the fraction of Pa to the super-atmospheric conditions. In this paper, the basic characteristics of wide-pressure-range plasma source based on the coplanar dielectric barrier discharge is given. The operational characteristics of this plasma source were measured in nitrogen at pressures ranging from 101 Pa (resp. 10−4 Pa) to 105 Pa. Measurements of the plasma geometry, breakdown voltage, and micro-discharges' behaviour revealed three operational regimes of this plasma source: “high pressure,” “transitional” and “low-pressure” with vague boundaries at the pressures of approx. 10 kPa and 1 kPa. It was found that the plasma layer of coplanar dielectric barrier discharge could be expanded up to several centimetres to the half-space above the planar dielectric barrier when the gas pressure is reduced below 1 kPa, which provides an outstanding space to tailor the source for the specific applications. The proposed model of an effective gap distance in the Paschen breakdown criterion enabled us to explain the discharge behaviour fitting the experimental breakdown voltage data in the whole studied pressure range. Under the filament-forming conditions, i.e., at the pressure range from approx. 1–100 kPa, the active plasma volume could be varied through the micro-discharges' lateral thickness scaling with the inverse of the square-root of the gas pressure.
ISSN:1070-664X
1089-7674
DOI:10.1063/1.4973442