Discharge characteristics of an atmospheric-pressure capacitively coupled radio-frequency argon plasmas

In this Letter, the electrical discharge characteristics of plasmas generated in coaxial cylindrical electrodes capacitively powered by radio-frequency power supply at atmospheric pressure are investigated with respect to argon gas. The electrical discharge parameters, the current and voltage characteristics (I–V) and the current and power characteristics (I–P), are measured for argon plasmas, and the electron temperatures and electron densities are estimated based on the equivalent circuit model and by making use of the power balance equation. Furthermore, the influence of the additive gas, oxygen gas, on the electrical discharge characteristics is also investigated in the argon plasmas, which is closely related to the electron temperature of plasmas.