Electric discharge in air in a deeply subcritical field of a quasi-optical microwave beam

We describe the results of experiments on initiation of an electric discharge in air in a quasi-optical microwave beam by an electromagnetic vibrator fixed above the screen. This method for initiating the electrical breakdown makes it possible to obtain a discharge at a level of the electric field component in the microwave, which two orders of magnitude lower than the minimal critical field of the electrodeless breakdown of air. In our experiments, the threshold value of the air pressure determining the low- and high-temperature forms of the microwave discharge are determined depending on the field level.     

Range of existence of self-sustained, subcritical microwave streamer discharges

Data are presented from a study of subcritical microwave streamer discharges in air in an electromagnetic beam. It is shown that, depending on the degree of subcriticality, this kind of discharge can have two forms: a self-sustained discharge and a discharge that is attached to the initiating trigger. The range of subcriticality for the initial field is determined as a function of air pressure within which the self-sustained developed discharge form exists. Zh. Tekh. Fiz. 69, 19–24 (November 1999)     

Deeply undercritical microwave discharge excited by the field of a quasi-optical electromagnetic beam in a supersonic air jet

Electric discharge in a supersonic air jet is studied. It is ignited in a linearly polarized quasi-optical microwave electromagnetic beam the initial field intensity of which is much lower than the breakdown level. Electric breakdown is initiated by a tubular electromagnetic vibrator, one end of which has spikes and is covered by a quartz tube. Atmospheric air enters into a low-pressure working chamber through the inner channel of the vibrator. As a result, an immersed supersonic air jet forms in the chamber at the outlet from the quartz tube. A microwave discharge ignited in this jet is “attached” to aft spikes of the vibrator. The energy deposit into the discharge plasma and the effective area of energy interaction between the discharge and excited microwave field are estimated from the temperature and stagnation pressure distributions in the wake of the discharge.     

Multipoint Ignition of a Gas Mixture by a Microwave Subcritical Discharge with an Extended Streamer Structure

The results of experimental studies on using an electrical discharge with an extended streamer structure in a quasioptical microwave beam in the multipoint ignition of a propane–air mixture have been reported. The pulsed microwave discharge was initiated at the interior surface of a quartz tube that was filled with the mentioned flammable mixture and introduced into a microwave beam with a subbreakdown initial field. Gas breakdown was initiated by an electromagnetic vibrator. The dependence of the type of discharge on the microwave field strength was examined, the lower concentration threshold of ignition of the propane–air mixture by the studied discharge was determined, and the dynamics of combustion of the flammable mixture with local and multipoint ignition were compared.     

Breakdown in air in a rising microwave field

Results are presented from studies of a high-pressure electrodeless breakdown in air at the focus of a standing wave in a high-Q quasi-optical two-mirror resonator pumped by single microwave pulses. In the experiment, the breakdown occurred at the front of the pulse of the resonator field. The breakdown field substantially exceeded the critical level and, under fixed conditions, showed a scatter from pulse to pulse. It is shown that the experimentally found excess in the threshold breakdown field over the critical level is due to the fact that the resonator field increases as a discharge plasmoid forms during breakdown and that the appearance of an electron initiating breakdown in a gas is a random event.     

Discharge in the Atmosphere in a Gaussian Beam of Subthreshold Millimeter Waves

The propagation velocities of a subthreshold discharge excited in air at atmospheric pressure by a pulsed microwave beam with a Gaussian field distribution, a wavelength of 4 mm, and an intensity up to 30 kW/cm² have been measured by means of optical and microwave diagnostics. It has been shown that the motion of a discharge front along the path of the beam toward the region of an increasing microwave field is accompanied by an increase in the velocity from subsonic (~10^–4 cm/s) to supersonic (~(6–8) × 10⁴ cm/s). At the same time, motion toward the decreasing field region is accompanied by a decrease in the velocity from supersonic to subsonic. It has been found that the maximum temperature of the gas in the discharge at velocities of ~10⁴ cm/s reaches ~5.3 kK.     

Measurement of intense microwave field patterns using a neon glow indicator lamp

A novel method using small neon glow lamps with electrodes is developed for measuring intense microwave field patterns. When the lamp axis coincide with the electric field direction, the lamp discharge starts at the feeblest microwave electric field strength. Therefore, the lamp axis shows the field direction and the discharge starting indicates the field strength. The field strength for starting the microwave discharge is less than the strength for AC discharge, because of its low loss discharge mechanism. In the experiments using a microwave oven, it has been demonstrated again comparing with the simulated results that the method is able to use for measuring the intense electric field strength and direction.     

The Nonstationary Behaviour of the Electron Current Density in the Weakly Inonized Plasma at High Field Frequencies

Based upon former studies concerning the nonstationary electron kinetics in collision dominated, weakly ionized plasmas the phase delay between the ac electric field component and the resultant ac electron current density has been analysed, theoretically and experimentally, under the specific conditions of a microwave field superimposed to a dc discharge plasma column. The complex plasma conductivity and thus the phase delay has been calculated by solving an appropriate electron kinetic equation. The same quantities have been experimentally determined by using the microwave cavity which operates with different resonator modes. A comprehensive comparison between calculated and measured quantities for different neon discharge plasmas leads to a complete confirmation of the theoretical expectations.     

Thermal ionization instability of an air discharge plasma in a microwave field

Results are presented from experimental studies of the initial stage of an air discharge initiated in a linearly polarized quasi-optical microwave beam. The discharge was excited at an air pressure at which the electron-neutral collision frequency in the discharge plasma was considerably higher than the circular frequency of the electromagnetic field and at a microwave field amplitude close to the threshold field for air breakdown. The experiments revealed relatively bright plasma channels stretched along the microwave electric field. The development rate of these channels and their characteristic transverse dimensions are estimated. A comparison of the experimental data and theoretical estimates indicates that the channels observed arise due to the onset of thermal ionization instability in the microwave discharge plasma.     

介质窗横向电磁场分布下的次级电子倍增效应

本文利用自编P3D3V PIC程序, 数值研究了BJ32矩波导传输TE₁₀模式高功率微波在介质窗内、 外表面引发的次级电子倍增过程, 给出了次级电子3维空间位置分布特征、介质窗表面法向静电场分布规律以及电子数密度分布特性. 模拟结果表明: 对于介质窗内侧, 微波强场区域率先进入次级电子倍增过程; 而对于介质窗外侧, 则是微波弱场区域优先进入次级电子倍增过程. 形成机理可以解释为: 微波坡印廷矢量方向与介质窗外表面法向相同而与内表面法向相反, 内侧漂移运动导致强场区域电子易于被推回表面, 有利于次级电子倍增优先形成; 外侧漂移运动导致强场区域电子易于被推离表面, 不利于次级电子倍增形成. 准3维模型相对1维模型: 介质窗内侧次级电子倍增过程中, 次级电子倍增进入饱和时间长、饱和次级电子数目少、平均电子能量高、 入射微波功率低、沉积功率低; 介质窗外侧次级电子倍增过程中, 次级电子倍增进入饱和时间短、饱和次级电子数目少、平均电子能量低、 入射微波功率低、沉积功率低. 沉积功率与入射微波功率比值与微波模式、强度及介质窗内外侧表面关系不大, 准3维和1维模型计算结果均在1%–2%左右水平. 关键词： 高功率微波 介质表面次级电子倍增 粒子模拟 横向电磁场分布     

微波液相等离子体发射光谱研究

为了研究微波液相放电等离子体的基本物理现象和放电特性,为微波液相放电技术奠定一定的理论基础,利用发射光谱仪对水中微波液相放电及放电中产生的活性粒子进行了检测,同时对微波液相放电光谱数据统计方法进行了研究。 利用发射光谱仪结合数控摄像机对微波液相放电过程中起始放电和稳定放电两个过程进行了同步检测拍摄。 实验结果发现：微波液相等离子体发射光谱强度波动较大,光谱强度可以用10个光谱数据点进行平均计算;放电的强度在一定程度上可以由等离子体区域面积所反映,尽管如此,等离子体区域面积和羟基自由基发射光谱强度的变化梯度并不一致,这主要是因为在放电过程中,放电强度不仅体现在等离子体区域面积,同时也与等离子体区域的亮度有关。     

Generation of a uniform high-density microwave plasma for CO2 lasers using orthogonal electric fields

To realize a CO₂ laser using a fast-axial-flow high-output-power microwave discharge excitation, we devised a technology for making the microwave discharge uniform by varying the oscillation direction of an electric field with time. We also verified the effectiveness of this technology. As a result, we succeeded in increasing the discharge uniformity to 70% of the laser-tube cross-sectional area and realized a high laser output power and a high laser efficiency. In the case of a microwave input power of 1450 W, a maximum laser output power of 273 W and a laser efficiency of 18.8% were achieved; in the case of a microwave input power of 1070 W, a laser output power of 214 W and a laser efficiency of 20.0% were achieved. At the time of maximum output power, a high input power density of 280 W/cm³, which is approximately 20 times that in a dc discharge method, was achieved. Thus, a high-output-power microwave-discharge-excited CO₂ laser has become feasible. PACS 42.60.By; 52.80.Pi     

Pulsed microwave discharge in atmospheric air in the focus of a two-mirror resonator

Free-localized pulsed microwave discharge in atmospheric air in the focus of an open two-mirror high-Q resonator excited by linearly polarized electromagnetic radiation with a wavelength of 4.3 cm is described. This discharge is analogous to the previously studied streamer resonance microwave discharge ignited under similar conditions but with an electromagnetic radiation wavelength of 8.9 cm. Starting from a certain overcritical electric field, the discharge plasma channel has a high-temperature core.     

Surface streamer microwave discharge

An atmospheric-pressure pulsed microwave discharge on the surface of an insulating plate and between two insulating fllms is considered. The discharge is initiated in a quasi-optical microwave beam away from the beam-forming elements. The TEM field of the beam is less than the critical breakdown value. The initiator is a metallic dipole placed either directly on the plate surface facing away from the radiation source or between the films. The discharge has the form of branching streamer channels adjacent to the surface and filling up the cross section of the microwave beam with a field level higher than the value separating the subcritical and highly subcritical forms of the microwave streamer discharge.     

Low pressure radio frequency and microwave discharges for d.c. sputtering of ferromagnetic materials

This paper describes a d.c. diode sputtering system in which the sputtering discharge is sustained by an r.f. or microwave plasma excited with a helix coil surrounded by eight SmCo magnets. The discharge is characterized in terms of the discharge d.c. current through the cathode. The microwave and r.f. excitation and two different configurations of the magnets are compared. The production of r.f. or microwave discharge in a magnetic field makes it possible to operate this system even at low pressures down to 0.01 Pa. This work was partly supported by the Grant Agency of the Czech Republic under Project No. 106/96/K245.     

Ionization-overheating instability threshold in the electrodeless microwave discharge plasma

Experiments with a pulsed freely localized electrodeless microwave discharge in air under a pressure corresponding to the ascending branch of the pressure dependence of the breakdown field are described. The discharge is initiated in a focused quasi-optical electromagnetic beam. The minimal threshold values of the electromagnetic field (for which a brighter plasma channel extended along the field is formed in the initially spatially homogeneous diffuse discharge plasma) are determined by varying air pressure for several fixed values of this field in the focal region of the beam. In accordance with the prevailing theory, this phenomenon is interpreted as the result of evolution of ionization-overheating instability in the microwave discharge plasma.     

Spatial structures of continuous microwave discharge

The paper deals with the results of investigations of spatial structures of continuous microwave discharge in a quasi-optical resonator. The results are given of experimental observations and easurements of the parameters of plasma in discharges of different forms, and the reasons are analyzed for the formation of spatial discharge structures. It is demonstrated that, as a result of the plasma-resonance amplification of the field, the discharge makes a transition to the contracted state with a size that is much less than the microwave-frequency wavelength and with an electron concentration in excess of the critical. It is found that the stratification of the contracted state across the electric field vector, which arises in some gases, is caused by the development of thermoelectric-current instability that was not previously observed in microwave discharges.     

介质材料二次电子发射特性对微波击穿的影响

以介质填充的平行板放电结构为例,本文主要研究了介质填充后微波低气压放电和微放电的物理过程.为了探究介质材料特性对微波低气压放电和微放电阈值的影响,本文采用自主研发的二次电子发射特性测量装置,测量了7种常见介质材料的二次电子发射系数和二次电子能谱.依据二次电子发射过程中介质表面正带电的稳定条件,计算了介质材料稳态表面电位与二次电子发射系数以及能谱参数的关系.在放电结构中引入与表面电位相应的等效直流电场后,依据电子扩散模型和微放电中电子谐振条件,分别探讨了介质表面稳态表面电位的大小对微波低气压放电和微放电阈值的影响.结果表明,介质材料的二次电子发射系数以及能谱参数越大,介质材料的稳态表面电位也越大,对应的微波低气压放电和微放电阈值也越大.所得结论对于填充介质的选择有一定的理论指导价值.     

两种外磁场形式对介质面次级电子倍增的抑制

利用自编1D3V PIC程序,数值研究了不同外加磁场方式对次级电子倍增抑制的物理过程,给出了次级电子数目、平均能量、密度、运动轨迹、渡越时间、介质表面静电场及沉积功率等物理量时空分布关系。模拟结果表明:不同方向外加磁场抑制次级电子倍增的机理有所不同。轴向外加磁场利用电子回旋运动干扰微波电场对电子加速过程,使其碰壁能量降低以达到抑制二次电子倍增的效果;横向外加磁场利用电子回旋漂移过程中,电子半个周期被推离介质表面（不发生次级电子倍增）,半个周期被推回介质表面（降低电子碰撞能量）的作用机理,达到抑制二次电子倍增的效果。讨论了横向磁场在回旋共振下,电子回旋同步加速导致回旋半径增大,电子能量持续增加的特殊过程。两种外加磁场方式都可以通过增加磁场达到进一步抑制次级电子倍增的目的。轴向外加磁场加载容易,但对磁场要求较高;横向外加磁场需要磁场较低,但加载较为困难。