| AVS 57th International Symposium & Exhibition | |
| Advanced Surface Engineering | Monday Sessions |
| Session SE+PS-MoM |
| Session: | Atmospheric Pressure Plasmas |
| Presenter: | V. Rodriguez-Santiago, U.S. Army Research Laboratory |
| Authors: | V. Rodriguez-Santiago, U.S. Army Research Laboratory J.K. Hirvonen, U.S. Army Research Laboratory B.E. Stein, U.S. Army Research Laboratory D.R. Boris, U.S. Naval Research Laboratory S.G. Walton, U.S. Naval Research Laboratory D.D. Pappas, U.S. Army Research Laboratory |
| Correspondent: | Click to Email |
The increased use of atmospheric-pressure plasmas for the surface modification of materials has drawn particular interest in understanding the basic phenomena underlying dielectric barrier discharges (DBDs). One of the main advantages of using DBDs is the generation of cold, non-equilibrium plasma at atmospheric pressure conditions without the need of vacuum equipment. A typical DBD setup consists of one or both electrodes covered with a dielectric material with a sufficiently high applied voltage to ignite the plasma. The plasma can be either filamentary or spatially uniform depending on parameters such as dielectric and electrode material, interelectrode gap, carrier and reactive gas mixture, and the type of applied voltage among others. Another important aspect is the geometry of the electrode assembly, which will determine the electric field configuration and thus influence the discharge characteristics.
In this study, we investigate the electrical characteristics of He and He-O2 dielectric barrier discharges using a pulsed, sinusoidal signal in the kHz frequency range with a (1-10) kV peak-to-peak amplitude. Full characterization of the plasma will be carried out using rod, sheet and planar electrode assemblies, while materials of various dielectric constants such as mica, quartz and polyethylene will be employed. Voltage, current and power distributions will be analyzed aiming to identify the optimal electrode geometries and dielectric materials needed to produce uniform and large scale plasmas for materials processing.