Study of atmospheric-pressure glow discharge plasma jets based on analysis of electric field

Abstract

To achieve an atmospheric-pressure glow discharge (APGD) in a long electrode gap and generate large-diameter atmospheric-pressure glow discharge plasma jets (APGDPJs), an electrode, adopting the mode of a dielectric barrier discharge with a non-uniform dielectric thickness, was used. For the analysis of the electric field profile of the electrode, the strong electric field areas that could easily generate discharge could initially be formed in the non-uniform gap. Additionally, the distribution of the electric field with high intensity in the short gap and low intensity in the long gap was not likely to result in a filament discharge. Experiments indicate that the electrode could not only achieve APGD in the discharge gap by using air and nitrogen, but also generate stable nitrogen APGDPJs with a diameter of 3.5 mm. This was a relatively large diameter achieved for a glow discharge nitrogen plasma jet device.