Excitation dynamics of micro-structured atmospheric pressure plasma arrays

H Boettner (1) , J Waskoenig (2) , D O ' Connell (2) , J Winter (1) , V Schulz-von Der Gathen (1)

1 Institute for Experimental Physics II: Applied Plasma Physics
2 Centre for Plasma Physics

The spatial dynamics of the optical emission from an array of 50 times 50 individual micro cavity plasma devices are investigated. The array is operated in argon and argon-neon mixtures close to atmospheric pressure with an AC voltage. The optical emission is analysed with phase and space resolution. It has been found that the emission is not continuous over the entire AC period, but occurs once per half period. Each of the observed emission phases shows a self-pulsing of the discharge, with several bursts of emission of fixed width and repetition rate. The number of emission bursts depends on applied voltage and frequency. Spatially resolved measurements prove that the emission bursts are formed by overlapping emission pulses from single discharge cavities. Intensity differences between positive and negative half-wave can be interpreted through spatially resolved measurements of single discharge cavities.

Mots clés: plasma diagnostics; plasma source; Townsend discharge; dielectric barrier discharge; microplasma; array; atmospheric pressure PACS numbers: 52.25.Os; 52.50.Dg; 52.80.Dy; 52.70.Kz

H Boettner, J Waskoenig, D O ' Connell, J Winter, V Schulz-von Der Gathen. Excitation dynamics of micro-structured atmospheric pressure plasma arrays. Journal of Physics D: Applied Physics, 2010, 43 (12), pp.124010. ⟨10.1088/0022-3727/43/12/124010⟩. ⟨hal-00569560⟩