A Microfabricated Inductively Coupled Plasma Excitation Source

A novel miniaturization of inductively coupled plasma （ICP） source based on printed circuit produced using micro-fabrication techniques is presented. The basic parameters of the novel ICP, including its radio frequency, power loss, size, and argon consumption are less than 1% of that for the case of atmospheric pressure ICP source. For example, at 100 Pa of argon gas pressure, the present ICP source can be ignited by using the rf power less than 3.5 W. Potential applications of the ICP is discussed.     

Large Volume and High Density Surface Wave Plasmas Sustained by Two Microwave Launchers

Surface wave plasma （SWP） is an electromagnetic excitation along the planar interface between a dielectric and plasma medium when plasma density is so large that its permittivity becomes negative. An experiment SWP system consisting of two microwave launchers （upper and side microwave launcher） has been developed for producing large volume surface wave plasmas in our laboratory. The experimental investigation shows that comparable uniformity plasma with not only large volume but also high density properties has been obtained by the two launchers.     

Improvement of Uniformity of Inductively Coupled Plasma with a one Spiral Antenna

Uniformity of inductively coupled plasma （ICP） is improved with a cone spiral antenna in our experiment. Performance of the ICP with a new type of antenna is experimentally investigated. The results indicate that the uniformity of plasma density in the radial direction is obviously improved as compared to the ICP with a planar spiral antenna. Performance of ICP is analysed with the experimental results.     

Attachment Instabilities of SF6 Inductively Coupled Plasmas under Different Coupling Intensities

Characteristics of attachment instabilities in SF6 inductively coupled plasmas are experimentally studied under different coupling intensities. Experimental results show that the instabilities only occur in H modes operating in positive feedback regions. Both the sudden mode transitions and the instabilities are influenced by the coupling intensities. With increasing absorbed power, weak and middle coupling discharges can sequently undergo sudden mode transitions and attachment instabilities. In strong coupling discharges, the sudden mode transitions disappear and only attachment instabilities exist. The strong and weak coupling discharges are the most stable and unstable, respectively.     

Estimation of Plasma Density by Surface Plasmons for Surface-Wave Plasmas

An estimation method of plasma density based on surface plasmons theory for surface-wave plasmas is proposed. The number of standing-wave is obtained directly from the discharge image, and the propagation constant is calculated with the trim size of the apparatus in this method, then plasma density can be determined with the value of 9.1 × 10^17m^-3. Plasma density is measured using a Langmuir probe, the value is 8.1 × 10^17m^-3 which is very close to the predicted value of surface plasmons theory. Numerical simulation is used to check the number of standing-wave by the finite-difference time-domain （FDTD） method also. All results are compatible both of theoretical analysis and experimental measurement.     

Optical Emission Spectroscopy Investigation of a Surface Dielectric Barrier Discharge Plasma Aerodynamic Actuator

The optical emission spectroscopy of a surface dielectric barrier discharge plasma aerodynamic actuator is investigated with different electrode configurations, applied voltages and driving frequencies. The rotational temperature of N2 （C^3 Ⅱu） molecule is calculated according to its rotational emission band near 380.5 nm. The average electron energy of the discharge is evaluated by emission intensity ratio of first negative system to second positive system of N2. The rotational temperature is sensitive to the inner space of an electrode pair. The average electron energy shows insensitivity to the applied voltage, the driving frequency and the electrode configuration.     

Theoretical Computation for Non-Equilibrium Air Plasma Electrical Conductivity at Atmospheric Pressure

Based on the Chapman-Enskog theory, we calculate the electrical conductivity of non-equilibrium air plasma in the two-temperature model. We consider different degrees of non-equilibrium, which is defined by the ratio of electronic temperature to heavy particles temperature. The method of computing the composition of air plasma is demonstrated. After calculating the electrical conductivity from electron temperature 1000 K to 15000K, the present result is compared with Murphy＇s study [Plasma Chem. Plasma Process 15 （1994） 279] for equilibrium case. All the calculation is completed at atmospheric pressure. The present results may have potential applications in numerical calculation of non-equilibrium air plasma.     

A spark channel plasma electrode for a CO2 laser gas discharge

A plasma electrode potentially suitable for dc discharge pumped lasers has been developed based on the repetitive creation of a spark channel. The high-density plasma is a source of charge carriers for the dc discharge, thereby largely eliminating the cathode and anode falls. Potential reduction improves with increasing spark repetition frequency until about 9 kHz, at which point the falls are virtually eliminated. Fortuitously, the most beneficial regime of plasma electrode operation also appears to coincide with the optimum E/N range for CO₂ laser vibrational excitation.     

Theoretical and Experimental Study of Scattering of a Plane Wave by an Inhomogeneous Plasma Sphere

Scattering of electromagnetic waves by an inhomogeneous plasma sphere has been studied theoretically and experimentally. The offset angles of electromagnetic waves caused by the plasma sphere have been observed experimentally. The effects of the electromagnetic wave frequency and plasma density on the offset angle are discussed. The plasma density is estimated with the offset angle.     

大气压空气等离子体羽的振动温度研究

利用三电极介质阻挡放电装置,在大气压空气中产生了较大体积的等离子体羽。采用光学方法对该等离子体羽的特性进行了研究。发现随着外加电压峰值增加,每个外加电压周期的放电脉冲个数增加。通过采集等离子体羽的发射光谱,空间分辨地研究了放电等离子体羽的振动温度。结果表明等离子体羽的振动温度随着外加电压峰值的增加而减小;随着远离喷嘴的距离的增加,等离子体振动温度先增加后减小,当距离喷嘴5.4 mm时振动温度达到最高值。对上述现象进行了定性分析。研究结果对大气压空气等离子体羽在杀菌消毒等领域的应用具有重要意义。     

Electron-cyclotron-resonance plasma heating with broadband microwave radiation: Anomalous effects

Affects of microwave bandwidth on the high-charge-states of ion beams extracted from a conventional minimum-B-geometry ECR ion source are first demonstrated. The high-charge-state intensities, produced with broadband microwave radiation are observed to be factors ?2 than those produced with narrow bandwidth microwave radiation at the same power level.     

Avalanche Phenomenon of Superthermal Electrons Measured by SDD with New SPHA during ECRH

Two high performance silicon drift detectors （SDD） are installed at the equatorial port with z = 0 and z = -16.4 cm on HL-2A tokamak, respectively. These SDDs combine with the new and non-conventional software pulse height analyser （SPHA ） successfully developed more recently by us to measure the time evolution of soft x-rays spectra, the thermal and superthermal electron temperatures. The high-quality three-dimensional figure of time evolution for soft x-rays energy spectra is easily obtained by combination of a new SPHA and computer. Therefore, the measurement accuracies and the time resolutions of thermal and superthermal electron temperatures are also improved. The enhancement phenomenon of superthermal electron during electron cyclotron resonance heating （ECRH） can be explained by the combination of superthermal electron avalanche theory and experimental parameters.     

Improved lower hybrid current drive efficiency with IBW heating in the HT-7 tokamak

Lower hybrid current drive (LHCD) efficiency in the HT-7 tokamak is observed to increase about 30% with ion Bernstein wave (IBW) heating. The current drive efficiency as high as has been reached in HT-7 thanks to an LHCD/IBW synergy. The IBWs are significantly coupled to the fast electrons produced by the lower hybrid waves, thus results in higher fast electron photon temperature in the combined LHCD + IBW scenario. The interaction of LHCD + IBW improved current drive efficiency.     

Density Modulation Experiments on HT-7 Tokamak

Density modulation experiments are successfully conducted on HT-7 ohmic discharge to investigate particle transport coefficients: diffusion coefficients D and convection velocity V. The particle transport is studied at low (1.5×10¹⁹m^-3) and high (3×10¹⁹ m^-3) density regimes. The clear differences are observed that D is 0.42m²/s and 0.17m²/s, V is 4.7m/s (outward) and 1.6 m/s (inward) for low and high density plasmas respectively, where spatially constant D and V(r) = (r/a)V₀ were assumed for the analysis.     

Hot electrical conductivity in lower hybrid current drive plasmas in the HT-7 tokamak

The interaction between the hot electrical conductivity and the residual electric field have been investigated in lower hybrid current drive (LHCD) experiments with non-zero loop voltage in the HT-7 tokamak. It has been found that the hot electrical conductivity contribute significantly to the current drive in partial non-inductively sustained plasmas. The hot electrical conductivities under different lower hybrid power levels and different parallel refractive indexes have been obtained. It is comparable to the Spitzer conductivity in high power LHCD experiments.     

Design of a TE10-TE30 Rectangular Mode Converter for 4.6GHz LHCD Launcher in the Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak

A compact rectangular TE10-TE30 mode converter is developed for the lower hybrid current drive （LHCD） launcher on the Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak （EAST） at 4.6 GHz. The converter with periodic width perturbation aims to divide the microwave power into three sub-waveguides in the poloidal direction. We present the design and numerical calculation of the mode converter. Calculations are performed on the ripple wall converter by codes based on numerical solving the coupled-mode differential equations and on the simulation of the High Frequency Structure Simulator （HFSS） package. The resulting conversion efficiency from TE10 mode to TE30 mode exceeds 95% within the bandwidth from 4.56 GHz to 4.64 GHz, and the return loss of the oversized transducer can be considerably decreased to 0.068% by means of a capacitive button embedded in the E-plane of the waveguide.     

Power Consideration for Pulsed Discharges in Potassium Seeded Argon

Minimization of energy consumed in plasma generation is critical for applications, in which a large volume of plasmas is needed. We suggest that a high electron density atmospheric pressure plasmas can be generated by pulsed discharges in potassium seeded argon at an elevated temperature with a very small power input. The ionization efficiency and power budget of pulsed discharges in such plasmas are analytically studied. The results show that ionization efficiency of argon, especially at small reduced electric field E/N （the ratio of the electric field to the gas number density）, is improved effectively in the presence of small amount of potassium additives. Power input of pulsed discharge to sustain a prescribed average level of ionization in potassium seeded argon is three orders of magnitude lower than that in pure argon. Further, unlike in pure argon, it is found that very short high-voltage pulses with very high repetition rates are unnecessary in potassium seeded argon. A pulse with lOOns of pulse duration, 5kHz of repetition rate, and 2Td （1 Td = 1 × 10^-21 Vm^2） of E/N is enough to sustain an electron density of 10^19 m^-3 in 1 arm 1500K Ar＋0.1% K mixture, with a very small power input of about 0.08 × 10^4 W/m^3.     

Prospects of “water-window” X-ray emission from subpicosecond laser plasmas

Soft-X-radiation in the “water-window” region (23.3–43.6 ?) mainly from carbon laser plasmas generated by subpicosecond (700 fs) 0.248-μm laser pulses is studied as a function of angle of incidence and intensity (up to 10¹⁸ W/cm²) for p-polarized laser light. Furthermore, comparison is made between plasmas generated from massive and foil targets. Numerical calculations are performed using a hydrocode coupled to X-ray line and continuum emission calculations including radiation transport. The optimized conditions to achieve maximum water-window X-ray emissivity and, in particular, carbon Lyman-α line emission are investigated. In addition, analytical scalings are presented. These theoretical results are essentially confirmed by previous experiments. It is found that at optimized conditions, picosecond or subpicosecond laser plasma X-ray sources with a power of the order of 1–10 GW in a spectral window of 1 ? could be developed. Received: 6 August 1998 / Final version: 6 August 1999 / Published online: 30 November 1999     

Microwave Plasmas at Atmospheric Pressure

Microwave plasmas at atmospheric pressure are used for surface treatments like for example cleaning, sterilization or decontamination purposes, for a pre‐treatment to increase the adhesion of lacquer, paint, or glue, and for the deposition of different kind of layers and coatings. Micro plasma jets can also be applied for biomedical applications and for treatment of small and complex geometries like for example the inside of capillaries. Larger plasma torches which exhibit higher gas temperatures can also be used for chemical syntheses like waste gas decomposition, methane pyrolysis, or carbon dioxide dissociation and for plasma spraying purposes. In the present publication an overview on the development and the investigation of the operating principle of two atmospheric pressure microwave plasma torches at frequencies of 2.45 GHz and 915 MHz will be presented. The plasma sources are based on a cylindrical resonator combined with coaxial structures. To explain how these plasma sources work, simulations of the electric field distribution will be discussed. Furthermore, some physical characteristics of an air and an Ar/H2 atmospheric plasma like gas temperatures, excitation temperatures and densities as well as the heating of the plasma by the microwave will be investigated. (© 2014 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Direct synthesis of beta gallium oxide nanowires, nanobelts, nanosheets and nanograsses by microwave plasma

In this study, beta-gallium oxide (β-Ga₂O₃) nanowires, nanobelts, nanosheets, and nanograsses were synthesized through microwave plasma of liquid phase gallium containing H₂O in Ar atmosphere using silicon as the substrate. The nanowires with diameters of about 20-30 nm were several tens of microns long and the nanobelts with thickness of about 20-30 nm were tens to hundreds of microns long. The morphology and structure of products were analyzed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD). These results showed that multiple nucleation and growth of β-Ga₂O₃ nanostructures could easily occur directly out of liquid gallium exposed to appropriate H₂O and Ar in the gas phase. The growth process of β-Ga₂O₃ nanostructures may be dominated by VS (vapor-solid) mechanism.