Donut shape plasma jet plumes generated by microwave pulses even without air mole fractions

Abstract

It is well known that the plasma jets driven by lower frequency voltages or pulsed DC power supply normally present with donut shaped cross sections, especially at where the diffused air mole fractions are less than 0.01. Thence, it is interesting to further study whether the donut shape is still in truth for the pulsed microwave plasma jet or not. In this letter, the cross sectional structures of atmospheric pressure plasma jet plumes driven by pulsed microwaves have been experimented on a cylindrical coaxial transmission line resonator. The plasma jet plumes demonstrate particular characteristics, like argon plasma with a donut shape but helium plasma with an uniform lighten cross section, despite whether the air mole fraction exists or not. For argon discharge, the fast images show that the donut shaped cross section only occurs at the end of each microwave pulses. In combination with helium discharge, the cross sectional patterns are immediately determined by the dominant ionization front of the plasma jet plumes, which are resonantly generated by the local enhanced electric field of ionization waves.