Effect of needle cone angle and air flow rate on electrostatic discharge characteristics of a corona-needle ionizer

In this study, the corona-needle ionizer was designed, constructed, and characterized. Experimental characterizations of the electrostatic discharge in terms of current–voltage relationships of the corona ionizer, including the effects of discharge electrode cone angle and air flow rate were presented. It was found that the charging current and ion concentration in the charging zone increased monotonically with corona voltage. Conversely, discharge currents decreased with increasing angle of the needle cone. The negative corona was found to have higher current than the positive corona. At higher air flow rates, the ion current and concentration were found to be relatively high for the same corona voltage. The effect of air flow rate was more pronounced than the corona voltage. It was also shown that the ion penetration through the ionizer decreased with increasing corona voltage, and increased with increasing air flow rate. The highest ion penetration through the ionizer of the 10° needle cone angle was found to be about 93.7 and 7.7% for positive and negative coronas, respectively. The highest ion penetration for the needle cone angle of 20° was found to be 96.6 and 6.1% for positive and negative coronas, respectively.     

Calculations of the current-voltage characteristic of a high-pressure space discharge with external gas ionization

A one-dimensional theoretical model of high-pressure gas discharge with an external ionizer is constructed in the present work. The model can be used to calculate the continuous current-voltage characteristic of the discharge with an external ionizer for any arbitrary current density from values close to zero when the discharge is non-self-maintained to values typical of normal and slightly anomalous glow discharges. __________ Translated from Izvestiya Vysshikh Uchebnykh Zavedenii, Fizika, No. 8, pp. 37–41, August, 2007.     

A novel ion monitoring device

A new design for an ion monitoring device is proposed. This ion monitor is capable of simultaneous measurement of positive and negative ion currents resulting from the presence of airborne ions (as created by an air ionizer, for example). Information acquired in this way can be used in real-time monitoring of ionizer. Ion balance and production rate of ions of both polarities can be recorded by the new ion monitor, regardless of the type of the ionizer. Robustness and feasibility of the newly developed instrument were verified against the standard charged plate monitor unit (ANSI ESD STM 3.1-2000: EOS/ESD Association Standard for Protection of Electronic Discharge Susceptible Items—Ionization, ESD Association, 2000). The ion monitor significantly shortens the time necessary to evaluate an ionizer, and may additionally provide a feedback signal needed to keep an ionizer unit in balance.     

Simulation of the glow-to-arc discharge transition due to the cathode heating by ion bombardment

A model of gas-discharge transition from glow to diffuse arc, involving the equations of the discharge cathode sheath and the cathode heat balance equation, has been built. Time dependences of the cathode temperature and voltage drop from the moment of glow discharge ignition to the transition from glow to arc have been calculated.     

实现大气压负直流辉光放电的针-柱电极结构设计与实验

为了实现大气压环境下稳定的辉光放电,设计了一种新型的针-柱电极结构放电装置。采用针尖直径为56.4 μm的不锈钢针作为放电阴极,直径为4 mm的紫铜圆柱作为放电阳极,两者通过精密机械结构保持平行。当针-柱之间间距为2 mm、镇流电阻10 MΩ,放电电阻10 MΩ,测试电阻1 kΩ、放电电压-2 740 V、大气压环境、室温、无外部通入气流时,针-柱之间实现了稳定的辉光放电。示波器存储的放电波形和数码相机记录的放电图像验证了从电晕放电到辉光放电,再到火花放电的三种放电模式。该针-柱结构易于用MEMS工艺加工制作,可应用于便携式分析仪器中作为离子源使用。     

Effect of acoustic flows on the structure of a constricted glow discharge in argon

Numerical experiments on the effect of acoustic flows on the structure of a constricted glow discharge in argon have been performed in the hybrid approximation. The possibility of controlling the combustion regime of the glow discharge with an extended positive column at a high pressure by means of the formation of acoustic flows at the excitation of a standing acoustic wave has been demonstrated. In this case, the discharge transfers from the constricted combustion regime to the diffuse one and becomes stable.     

Efficient charge neutralization with an ac corona ionizer

This paper discusses the problem of obtaining effective charge neutralization by an ac corona ionizer with airflow. The motion of ions and the neutralization of a charged object for different discharge frequencies and airflow velocities are investigated by a computer fluid model for positive and negative ions. The results of the investigation show that, in the region of ion transport, the quasi-neutralized charge distribution self-generated by positive and negative ions during charge neutralization can effectively transport the ions themselves from an ionizer to a charged object and significantly reduce both the unwanted fluctuation and dc offset in the potential of the object at a steady state, resulting in efficient and precise charge neutralization. Since the quasi-neutralization greatly depends on the relationship between the discharge frequency and airflow velocity, the control of the relationship may lead to better neutralization with an air-blowing ac ionizer.     

空心针-板电极大气压氩气辉光放电的特性研究

大气压均匀放电等离子体在工业领域具有非常广泛的应用前景,它是利用直流电源激励的空心针-板放电装置,以氩气为工作气体在大气压空气中产生均匀稳定的放电。对氩气流量和气隙间距对辉光放电发光特性的关系进行了研究,结果表明放电所产生的等离子体柱连接两个电极,发光较为均匀(观察不到放电丝)。在板电极附近放电等离子体柱直径最大,最大直径随着电流和气流的增大而增大。放电伏安特性研究发现,与低气压辉光放电相类似,两电极间的电压随着电流的增大而减小,并且随气流和气隙间距的增大而增大。对该大气压直流均匀放电在扫描范围为330～450 nm的光学发射光谱进行分析,获得了放电等离子体的分子振动温度和谱线强度比I_391.4/I_337.1随氩气流量和气隙间距的变化关系。I_391.4/I_337.1均随流量和气隙间距的增大而降低。对等离子体柱的I_391.4/I_337.1沿气流方向(等离子体柱轴向)进行了空间分辨测量,并进行了定性分析,结果表明,振动温度及电子平均能量随着远离空心针口距离的增大而增大。这些结果对大气压辉光放电在工业中的应用具有重要意义。     

Glow Discharge Characteristics of Hollow Needle-Plate Electrode in Atmospheric Pressure ArgonSCIEI北大核心CSCD

Atmosphere pressure uniform plasma has the broad application prospect in the industrial field. Using hollow needle cathode - plate anode device excited by direct-current voltage, a uniform and stable glow discharge is generated at atmospheric pressure in ambient air with argon used as working gas. The influence of the experimental parameters (including gas flow rate and the gas gap width) on discharge has been investigated by optical method. It can be found that a glow-discharge plasma column can bridge the two electrodes. The plasma column is uniform, and no filaments can be discerned. Near the plate electrode, the diameter of the plasma column is largest of all positions. The maximal diameter of the plasma column increases with increasing the discharge current or the gas flow rate. Through electrical method, the voltage-current characteristic has been investigated. It has been found that the discharge voltage decreases with increasing the current which is similar with the characteristic of glow discharge in low pressure. It increases with increasing the gas gap width or the gas flow rate. By analyzing the optical emission spectrum scanning from 330 to 450 nm emitted from the direct-current glow discharge, the molecular vibrational temperature and the intensity ratio of spectral lines I-391.4/I-337.1 have been investigated as functions of the gas flow rate and gas gap width. Results indicate that both the vibrational temperature and the intensity ratio of spectral lines I-391.4/I-337.1 decrease with increasing the gas flow rate or the gas gap width. In addition, the molecular vibrational temperature and the intensity ratio of spectral lines I-391.4/I-337.1 have been investigated in spatial resolution along the direction of gas flow(plasma column axial), and give a qualitative analysis as well. It is found that the vibrational temperature and the average electron energy increase with increasing the distance from the hollow needle cathode. These results are important to the industrial applications of glow discharge.     

Mechanisms controlling the transition from glow silent discharge tostreamer discharge in nitrogen

Low-energy dielectric-barrier controlled discharges in nitrogen are studied by undertaking electrical measurements to determine mechanisms controlling the transition from glow to streamer-like discharge. The highest and the lowest values of the frequency and the amplitude of power supply voltage leading to a glow discharge have been found dependent on the gas flow and the nature of the surface in contact with the discharge. These boundary values have been related to the criteria necessary for initiating a Townsend breakdown rather than a streamer breakdown commonly observed under such conditions. This implies: (1) that the seed electron density just before the breakdown is high enough to allow the development of numerous small avalanches under a low field avoiding the formation of only one large avalanche mechanism at the origin of the streamer formation; and (2) to let the time for ions issued from the first avalanches to reach the cathode before the electrical field becomes large enough to induce the formation of large avalanches. Practically, the transition from a Townsend breakdown to a streamer breakdown is analyzed from electrical measurements data coupled to the visual aspect of the discharge. Without any gas flow, the obtaining of an atmospheric pressure glow discharge (APGD) is mainly limited by the species etched from the surface in contact with the gas. Indeed, these species can be quenchers of the nitrogen metastable molecules, which are the species at the origin of the formation of seed electrons via the Penning effect. This limitation can be overcome by the use of a laminar gas flow. However, this type of gas flow through the discharge induces a depletion of N₂ metastables and, consequently, influences the electron density at the entrance of the discharge, leading to a tendency on this part of the discharge to transit to a streamer-like one     

Calculation of ion and fast atom contributions to the sputtering non-uniformity of the target with a surface relief in glow discharge

The energy spectra of ion and fast atom flows at the target with a periodical surface relief of small amplitude in glow discharge are calculated. Distributions of the effective sputtering yield of the target and the sputtered atom flow density along its surface are found. It is shown that contributions of the fast atom flow non-uniformity in them are much less than that of the ion flow non-uniformity and may not be taken into account in the simulation of target sputtering in glow discharge when its surface relief element dimensions are small in comparison with the discharge cathode sheath length.     

直流辉光放电等离子体激发光源自动调节控制系统

直流辉光放电过程中需要控制的三个重要工作参数为放电电流、放电电压和放电室内氩气气压.该文介绍了一种应用于直流辉光放电等离子体激发光源的自动调节控制系统,该控制系统在放电电流恒定的情况下调节放电室内氩气气压,实现了对放电电压的信号采集和自动控制.文卷阐述了该控制系统的设计思路、电路原理及控制方案.该自动调节控制系统改善了以往用手动调节时精度低且操作复杂的情况,提高了放电电压的控制精度,缩短了放电电压的稳定时间.文中给出了自动控制方式下激发源放电电压的稳定性测试结果,控制精度由手动调节时的4%FS改善为小于1%FS,放电电压稳定时间由手动时的大于90s缩短到30 s以内.采用该控制系统对中低合金钢和锡肯铜标准样品进行了样品精密度实验.元素含量分析精密度比手动调节方式显著提高,各元素含量测试结果的相对标准偏差(RSD)均优于3.5%.中低合金钢标准样品中Ti,Co,Mn元素含量测试结果的RSD范围由手动时的3.0%～4.3%减小到1.7%～2.4%,S和Mo元素RSD范围由5.2%～5.9%减小到3.3%～3.5%.锡青铜标准样品中Sn,Zn,Al元素RSD范围由2.6%～4.4%减小到1.0%～2.4%,Si,Ni,Fe元素的RSD范围由6.6%～13.9%降低到2.6%～3.5%,并给出了实测数据.     

Investigations to the increase of the specific energy of a gasdynamic CO-laser

The input power density and hence the output power of electrically excited gasdynamic lasers is limited by instabilities of the glow discharge. The application of theoretical results, which have been obtained with respect of convection or flow lasers, to the discharge region of an electrically excited gasdynamic CO-laser shows, that especially thermal instabilities cause this glow collapse. An increased convection of local heat concentrations in front of the anode surface results in an improved stability behaviour. Input power densities of up to 100 W/cm³ are now accessible to operate the glow discharge and hence specific laser output powers of 57 kJ/kg are obtained.     

多针电晕增强大气压辉光放电稳定性研究

利用多针电晕增强放电装置，在无气流和存在高速气流的情况下都得到了稳定的大气压辉光.通过纪录发光图片、电流-电压波形和伏安特性曲线的方法对影响放电稳定性的因素做了细致地研究，发现了在从电晕放电到辉光放电的过程中存在着过渡阶段，表现为出现带有直流成分的Trichel脉冲.气流速度、极板间距以及针尖锥度和凹坑曲率半径的匹配程度都对放电的稳定性和电流密度有着重要的影响. 关键词： 大气压辉光放电 多针电晕 等离子体     

Photodetachment as a Control Mechanism for Diffuse Discharge Switches

Photodetachment is considered as a control mechanism for diffuse discharge switches. Experiments have been performed on photodetachment of ions in the flowing afterglow of a dc glow discharge in oxygen. Experiments with different laser wavelengths and the dependence of the optogalvanic signal on the laser energy flux indicate that O- is the dominant negative ion. For an energy flux of 35 mJ/cm2, 50percent of the O- ions can be photodetached.     

直流磁控溅射一步法原位制备MgB2超导薄膜

用MgB2靶,控制直流磁控溅射工作在异常辉光放电或弧光放电状态,在SrTiO3衬底上原位一次性得到了MgB2超导薄膜,其起始转变温度为32K,零电阻温度为15K. 关键词： 高温超导体 超导薄膜 磁控溅射 二硼化镁     

Numerical and experimental studies of collection efficiency of an ion electrostatic collector for a mini-volume electrical PM detector

The experimental efficiency was numerically and experimentally studied for collecting negative and positive ions in a coaxial cylindrical electrostatic collector for a mini-volume electrical PM detector. The commercial computational fluid dynamics software package COMSOL Multiphysics™ was used to predict the behaviors of the flow and electric fields as well as the particle trajectories in the collecting zone of the ion collector. In the experiment, the ions were generated by a corona-needle ionizer with concentrations greater than 10¹³ ions/m³, the positively and negatively applied voltages at the inner electrode ranged from 0 to 45 V and the ion flow rates ranged from 1 to 5 L/min. For these ion flow rates, 1–5 L/min, the ion precipitates due to space charge and diffusion effects ranged from 92 to 97 % for positive ions and 91–97 % for negative ions. The total collection efficiency of the collector increased to 100% at collection voltages larger than 5, 20 and 40 V respectively for the ion flow rates of 1, 3 and 5 L/min for both positive and negative ions. Numerical calculation results of the ion trajectory in the collecting zone of the collector; showed good agreement with the experimental results of the total collection efficiency and can be used to support the bettering of designing in order to refine an ion collector after the charger or ionizer in a mini-volume electrical aerosol detector. Finally, this shows that this ion collector was proven to be particularly useful as an electrostatic collector for positive and negative ions after the charger or ionizer in a mini-volume electrical aerosol detector.     

大气压介质阻挡辉光放电中放电电流的测量与分析

介质阻挡放电产生的低温等离子体具有广泛的应用前景而成为研究热点。文章利用平行平板介质阻挡放电装置,在流动的氦气中实现了大气压均匀辉光放电,得到了大气压下的均匀等离子体。利用电学方法将放电电流从总电流中分离出来,从而得到了辉光放电的放电电流。通过分析放电电流、外加电压、气隙上电压以及壁电荷电量之间的相互关系,可以研究气体放电过程中壁电荷积累的微观动力学行为。实验结果表明壁电荷主要是在放电电流脉冲持续期间积累的,但电流脉冲结束后,由于气隙电压没有改变极性,壁电荷还会逐渐积累,气隙电压改变极性后,壁电荷量随时间减小。这些结果对壁电荷在介质阻挡辉光放电中作用的深入研究和大气压介质阻挡辉光放电的工业应用具有重要意义。     

A self-consistent particle model for the simulation of RF glowdischarges

A self-consistent particle model of an argon RF glow discharge has been developed. Electric field and charged-particle density profiles determined from simulations with the RF glow discharge model are consistent with results obtained from continuum models. The average ion energy is found to vary greatly between the bulk of the discharge and sheaths, contrary to the assumption that the ion energy is uniform, as is assumed in some continuum models. The accuracy of the particle cross sections and collision representation used in the model is verified with a simplified DC model which calculates swarm parameters. Electron swarm parameters determined with this model are in excellent agreement with experimental data taken from the literature