Observation of vacuum-ultraviolet Ar2* radiation gain at 126 nm produced by an ultrashort high-intensity laser pulse propagating in a hollow fiber

We observed a small-signal gain of Ar2* emission at 126 nm by use of a hollow fiber to guide the high-intensity laser propagation in high-pressure Ar. The small-signal gain coefficient was measured to be 0.05 cm(-1) at 126 nm. Kinetic analysis revealed that the electrons produced by the high-intensity laser through an optical-field-induced ionization process initiated the Ar2* production processes. The increase in the emission intensity was measured to be exp(2.5), with an increase in the fiber length.     

Demonstration of soft x-ray laser of Ne-like Ar at 69.8 nm pumped by capillary discharge

The demonstration of a 69.8?nm laser on 3p 3P2 - 3s 1P1 (J=2-1) transition of Ne-like Ar pumped by capillary discharge is reported in this Letter. A main current of 12?kA with rise time of 43?ns was chosen to generate the plasma in a 35?cm long capillary filling with pressure of Ar as low as 11?Pa, resulting in a gain coefficient of 0.34?cm(-1) and gain-length product of 11 at 69.8?nm. Also observed is a weak laser on 3p 3D2 - 3s 3P1 (J=2-1) transition of Ne-like Ar at 72.6?nm in the same condition. In addition, multiwavelength lasing at 46.9, 69.8, and 72.6?nm was simultaneously realized in a capillary discharge plasma column, conditioning the pressure of Ar to 13?Pa.     

Surface modification of ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE) by argon plasma

In this work, argon (Ar) plasma generated by microwave electron cyclotron resonance (MWECR) has been used to modify the UHMWPE in order to increase the wear resistance. The results showed that the wettability, anti-scratch and wear resistance of UHMWPE treated by the Ar plasma had been improved, comparing with native UHMWPE. The FTIR and XPS spectra indicated the improvement of wettability should come from the oxygen based functional groups generated on the surface of UHMWPE. The improvement of anti-scratch and wear resistance may come from the enhancement of crosslinking of UHMWPE by Ar plasma treatment.     

Characteristics of a Ne-like Ar 46.9-nm soft X-ray laser in capillary discharge at a low Ar pressure

A capillary discharge-pumped Ne-like Ar 46.9-nm soft X-ray laser at a low Ar pressure (28–46 Pa) is proven. To our knowledge, this is the first time an XRD laser output in the condition of the low threshold of a main-current pulse spike (20–21 kA) is demonstrated. The Al₂O₃ ceramic capillary tube is 20 cm in length (Mo electrode is 4 cm in length) and 3 mm in diameter. The maximum laser energy of the precalibrated XRD is 3.5 μJ. The maximum gain coefficient g = 0.46 cm^?1, the maximum gain-length product is 8.28, the beam divergence is 5.4 mrad, and the laser pulse width is 1.65 ns. In addition, the results show that the laser plasma column became difficult to Z-pinch with a increasing Ar pressure, its Z-pinching state of a higher Ar pressure fluctuates more intensely than that of a lower pressure by analyzing the scattering of the delay time between the pre-and main-current pulse.     

细长金属管内产生的直流辉光等离子体发射光谱诊断

利用发射光谱法对金属管内形成的稳定氩氮直流辉光等离子体进行了诊断。通过对等离子体发射光谱谱线的研究确定了等离子体中的活性粒子成分;根据氩原子的玻尔兹曼曲线斜率法计算了等离子体中的电子激发温度;采用氮分子第二正带系跃迁(C3Π_u→B3Π_g)的发射谱线计算了等离子体中的氮分子振动温度;研究了电子激发温度和氮分子振动温度随压强的变化特征。研究结果表明,在20 Pa下产生的Ar60%+N₂40%直流辉光等离子体中,活性成分主要是Ar原子、Ar离子、N₂的第二正带系跃迁(C3Π_u→B3Π_g)和N+₂的第一负带系跃迁(B2Π+_u→X2Σ+_g);电子激发温度约为(15 270±250)K;氮分子(C3Π_u)振动温度约为(3 290±100)K;随着压强的增加电子激发温度、分子振动温度逐渐降低。文章的研究结果对细长金属管内表面改性研究具有重要的意义。     

Effect of ambient gas species on the formation of Cu nanoparticles in wire explosion process

In this paper, the effect of ambient gas species on the characteristics of the produced nanoparticles in wire explosion process is reported. Cu wires with a diameter of 125 μm and length of 6.1 cm were exploded in different ambiances of Ar and admixtures of Ar and N₂ at 500 mbar pressure. Immediate formation of arc plasma is observed for Ar ambiance. On the other hand, considerable delay in formation of arc plasma is observed for the admixtures of Ar and N₂. The arc plasma formation time is found to increase with increasing N₂ concentration in the admixture. Transmission electron microscope and X-ray diffraction were used to characterize the produced nanoparticles. Among the nanoparticles produced in different ambient gas species, the nanoparticles produced in Ar ambiance have higher particle size compared to admixtures of Ar and N₂. The particle size is found to reduce with increasing N₂ concentration in the ambiance. Difference in arc plasma formation time is probably the factor that gives rise to the difference in the particle sizes.     

大气压等离子体炬电子密度的光谱诊断

利用空心针-板放电装置产生了大气压等离子体炬,采用光谱法测量了其内部及表面的电子密度. 向空心针中通入氩气,在大气环境中产生了长度为1cm的等离子体炬.实验分别测量了Hα谱线和ArⅠ(696.54nm)谱线,通过反卷积方法分离出其相应的Stark展宽,并由此计算了电子密度.结果发现,采用Hα谱线和ArⅠ(696.54nm)谱线Stark展宽计算得到的等离子体的电子密度分别为1.0×10¹⁵cm^－3和3.78×10^{15关键词： 等离子体炬 电子密度 气体温度 Stark展宽}     

EAST边界和芯部杂质谱线的时间延迟研究

边界杂质注入是未来聚变装置ITER用于增强边界辐射,减少第一壁热负荷的一种重要方法。但部分注入的杂质会被输运到芯部,造成主等离子体辐射损失以及约束下降。光谱观测可以获取杂质种类、含量和分布等信息,在理解等离子体中杂质输运方面起着重要作用。在EAST(experimental advanced superconducting tokamak)偏滤器氩气(Ar)注入实验中,利用偏滤器可见光谱和芯部极紫外光谱监测边界的Ar¹⁺离子谱线ArⅡ(401.36 nm)和芯部的Ar¹⁵⁺离子谱线ArⅩⅥ(35.39 nm),并获得两者强度随时间的变化。其中,ArⅡ和ArⅩⅥ的电离能分别为27和918 eV,因此,ArⅡ和ArⅩⅥ分别对应分布于等离子体边界和芯部Ar离子。为了分析二者谱线强度随时间变化的特征,发展了一种基于正则Pearson积矩相关系数的相关分析方法,计算得到两者谱线强度变化的相对延迟时间,以此表征杂质从边界向芯部输运的时间。结果显示,偏滤器注入Ar杂质后,芯部ArⅩⅥ辐射增长滞后于边界ArⅡ辐射的增长,并且在具有较高的低杂波加热功率的放电中...     

Hydrothermal growth of ZnO microstructures on Ar plasma treated graphite

We have investigated the effect of argon (Ar) plasma treatment on the surface of graphite and the hydrothermal growth of zinc oxide (ZnO) microstructures. With the plasma treatment, the growth behavior of ZnO microrods on the graphite substrates changed drastically. After the graphite surface was exposed to the Ar plasma, the number density of ZnO was one order of magnitude higher than that on the pristine graphite without plasma treatment. Raman spectroscopy revealed that Ar plasma treatment created the structural defects on the graphite surfaces and decreased the mean distance of defects. Surface characterization through atomic force microscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy showed that the graphite surface was roughened and that oxygen–carbon bonding was formed. The enhanced nucleation of ZnO can be explained by the generation of structural defects, surface roughness, and surface functional groups on the graphite substrate. Therefore, Ar plasma treatment can be used as a simple method to engineer the surface properties of graphite substrates and to control the crystal nucleation and growth of inorganic materials on their surface.     

Optical characteristics of the plasma of a nanosecond atmospheric-pressure volume discharge in a nonuniform electric field

Optical characteristics of the plasma of nanosecond volume discharges in air, nitrogen, krypton, argon, neon, and Ar/N₂ and Ar/Xe mixtures at elevated pressures are investigated. The discharges are excited in a gap with a cathode of small curvature radius. The waveforms and spectra of plasma emission from discharges in different gases in the 230-to 600-nm spectral range are measured. Optical generation in an Ar/Xe mixture is achieved at an active length of 1.5 cm. A comparison is performed of the spectral characteristics of the emission from nitrogen, krypton, argon, and neon excited by a volume discharge in a nonuniform electric field, by a nanosecond electron beam, and by a pulsed volume discharge in a uniform electric field at a high initial voltage.     

介质阻挡放电氢等离子体中氢原子浓度的光谱诊断

在化学气相沉积功能材料等离子体刻蚀及表面处理等过程中, 氢原子起着非常重要的作用。文章详细论述了利用发射光谱技术诊断氢原子的基本原理,以氩气作为内标对介质阻挡放电氢等离子体中的氢原子浓度进行了定量的诊断,研究了氢原子浓度、氢分子解离率随气压的变化规律。发现在0.32到5.1 kPa气压范围内,氢分子的解离率由5.2%下降到0.089%,相应的氢原子浓度由4.9×1015·cm-3下降到1.3×1015·cm-3。文章还研究了氢Balmer系以及氩(750.4 nm)谱线的发射强度随气压、放电电压、频率等放电参数的变化规律。     

氩气/空气ICP放电现象研究和基于H_β光谱展宽的微波干涉电子密度诊断方法

闭式腔体ICP是解决飞行器等离子体局部隐身的可行方案,其电子密度Ne在电磁波入射方向上的分布是影响其电磁波衰减效果的关键因素。对此,开展了在30.8cm×30.8cm×5.8cm石英腔体内的ICP放电实验,通过实验研究了空气/氩气ICP的E-H模式跳变的物理现象,通过测量得到了空气/氩气环状ICP的宽度和覆盖面积比例随电源功率变化的规律,并给出了上述实验现象的理论解释。为了得到平面型ICP的电子密度在微波入射方向的分布,提出基于Hβ光谱展宽的微波干涉分布诊断法,分别对平面真空腔室内空气/氩气ICP的电子密度在电磁波入射方向上的分布进行了诊断,通过H_β(486.13nm)Stark展宽拟合和微波干涉过程分别获取电子密度分布函数的两项参数,得到了电子密度分布随放电功率变化的曲线。实验可得到电子密度范围为0.5×10~(11)~3.2×10~(11) cm~(-3)的环状ICP源,实验结果表明,ICP的电子密度受气体种类,射频功率影响较大,峰值电子密度接近ICP的中心位置,通过比较发现,氩气的电子密度较高,有效拟合区域较窄,空气的有效拟合区域较宽,覆盖面积较大。     

Plasma interactions with aminoacid (l-alanine) as a basis of fundamental processes in plasma medicine

Plasma interactions with l-alaine have been studied as a basis of fundamental processes in plasma medicine. The plasma interactions with l-alaine have been examined for investigations of molecular degradations induced by direct exposures with Ar plasma and exposures with UV–VUV photons emitted from the Ar plasma via chemical bonding states analyses using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The direct Ar-plasma exposure resulted in significant degradations of COOH group and CNH₂ group. Separate experiments via irradiation with photons in UV and VUV regions from the Ar plasma showed that the molecular degradation via irradiation with photons in VUV region was much more significant than via irradiation with photons in UV region. These experiments have indicated that the causality of the molecular degradation of the l-alanine during the Ar plasma exposure is considered to be significant in the following order; ions > VUV photons > UV photons ～ meta-stable radicals. Furthermore, the exposure with Ar–O₂ mixture plasma resulted in insignificant change in the XPS C1s spectra for variation of the exposure time ranging from 30 s to 300 s, indicating that the surface etching process is much more considerable than the chemical degradation process.     

Intense XUV emission generated by a capillary discharge based apparatus

We present the characterization of an apparatus generating XUV radiation by a high peak value (20–40) kA and short rise time (≈ 20 ns) current pulse in a capillary discharge channel (up to 20 cm in length) filled by argon gas. The apparatus has been developed with the purpose of production of an intensive spontaneous emission in the spectral region of (2–50) nm and study of the z-pinch conditions for obtaining the laser generation in the Nelike Ar at 46.9 nm. The current pulses are generated by the direct discharge of a 7 nF water dielectric capacitor resonantly charged up to 400 kV by a six-stages Marx generator. The XUV radiation emitted during the radial compression of the plasma column is measured using calibrated PIN diodes, filters and multilayer mirrors in order to test the z-pinch plasma collapse and to measure the conversion efficiency of the electrical energy into the XUV radiation. This work is supported by the Italian National Institute of Nuclear Physics and in part by the Italian National Institute of Matter Physics.     

针一板介质阻挡放电中电子能量空间分布研究

测量了大气压环境下氩气空心针-板放电等离子体中原子与分子谱线强度的空间分布,分析了等离子体中电子能量的空间分布.实验利用空心针-板放电装置,得到了约3 cm长的放电等离子体弧.在300～800 nm范围内采集发射光谱,发现了强度较高的Ar I谱线、N2第二正带系谱线C 3Ⅱu(v=o)→B 3皿(v=0)以及强度较弱的...     

超细Ar/O2大气压等离子体射流选择性去除聚氯代对二甲苯薄膜

介绍了一种在大气压环境下产生超细Ar/O2等离子体射流的装置。为了降低等离子体射流的尺寸,一种特制的玻璃微针被用于制作等离子体射流源。当施加在电极上的电压为4.0 kV时,该装置能产生基本均匀和稳定等离子体射流,且等离子体射流的线宽仅有几m。此外,探究了该超细等离子体射流选择性去除聚氯代对二甲苯薄膜的可能性。实验结果表明,该超细Ar/O2等离子体射流能有效地选择性去除聚氯代对二甲苯薄膜,去除速率可达2.4 m/min。因此,这种超细Ar/O2大气压等离子体射流有可能用于材料的超细加工。     

Field emission characteristics of carbon nanotubes post-treated with high-density Ar plasma

The field emission characteristics of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) grown by thermal chemical vapor deposition (CVD) and subsequently surface treated by high-density Ar plasma in an inductively coupled plasma reactive ion etching (ICP-RIE) with the various plasma powers were measured. Results indicate that, after treated by Ar plasma with power between 250 and 500 W, the emission current density of the CNTs is enhanced by nearly two orders of magnitude (increased from 0.65 to 48 mA/cm²) as compared to that of the as-grown ones. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) were employed to investigate the structural features relevant to the modified field emission properties of CNTs. The SEM images of CNTs subjected to a 500 W Ar plasma treatment exhibit obvious damages to the CNTs. Nevertheless, the turn-on fields decreased from 3.6 to 2.2 V/μm, indicating a remarkable field emission enhancement. Our results further suggest that the primary effect of Ar plasma treatment might be to modify the geometrical structures of the local emission region in CNTs. In any case, the Ar plasma treatment appears to be an efficient method to enhance the site density for electron emission and, hence markedly improving the electric characteristics of the CNTs.     

Radiative divertor behavior and physics in Ar seeded plasma on EAST

To investigate the radiative divertor behavior and physics for the scenario of impurity seeded plasma in ITER, the radiative divertor experiments with argon(Ar) seeding under ITER-like tungsten divertor condition were carried out during recent EAST campaigns. The experimental results reveal the high efficiency of reducing heat load and particle flux onto the divertor targets owing to increased radiation by Ar seeding. We achieve detached plasmas in these experiments. The inner–outer divertor asymmetry reduces after Ar seeding. Impurities, such as Ar, C, Li, and W, exist in the entire space of the vacuum chamber during EAST operations, and play important roles in power exhausting and accelerating the plasma detachment process. It is remarkable that the contamination of the core plasma is observed using Ar seeding owing to the sputtering of plasma facing components(PFCs), particularly when Ar impurity is injected from the upper tungsten divertor.     

柴油中微量硫的发射光谱研究

建立应用电感耦合等离子体发射光谱(ICP-OES)法直接测定柴油中微量硫的分析方法。柴油样品经煤油简单稀释后直接进样分析,高浓度有机溶剂具有较高的饱和蒸气压,会造成等离子体的负载增加从而影响等离子体的稳定性,通过优化仪器的射频功率、载气流量和溶液提升量等工作参数维持了等离子体工作的稳定性,选用轴向观测技术提高了方法的灵敏度。硫的分析谱线处于紫外光区,光室中的氧气会吸收紫外光谱,采用氩气为保护气并延长氩气吹扫光路的时间控制了光室的纯度。采用在等离子体气体中通入一定量的氧气使高浓度有机碳完全燃烧,消除了碳沉积现象。详细地研究了硫的光谱干扰,采用实时背景扣除功能软件进行校正。通过加入内标元素Y校正了基体对硫信号抑制的差异,补偿了部分光谱漂移所带来的误差,有效地改善了测量的精密度。样品的分析结果表明,该方法硫的检出限为0.2 μg·L-1,三水平加标回收率在97.4%～101.8%之间,11次平行测定的相对标准偏差(RSD)在1.6%～2.1%之间。方法的样品前处理过程采用煤油稀释后直接测定,具有操作简单、快速、准确、线性范围广、检出限低和精密度好等特点,可用于柴油中微量硫的快速分析。     

Studies on surface modification of poly(tetrafluoroethylene) film by remote and direct Ar plasma

Poly(tetrafluoroethylene) (PTFE) surfaces are modified with remote and direct Ar plasma, and the effects of the modification on the hydrophilicity of PTFE are investigated. The surface microstructures and compositions of the PTFE film were characterized with the goniometer, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). Results show that the remote and direct plasma treatments modify the PTFE surface in morphology and composition, and both modifications cause surface oxidation of PTFE films, in the forming of some polar functional groups enhancing polymer wettability. When the remote and direct Ar plasma treats PTFE film, the contact angles decrease from the untreated 108-58° and 65.2°, respectively. The effect of the remote Ar plasma is more noticeable. The role of all kinds of active species, e.g. electrons, ions and free radicals involved in plasma surface modification is further evaluated. This shows that remote Ar plasma can restrain the ion and electron etching reaction and enhance radical reaction.