VUV emission from a cylindrical dielectric barrier discharge in Ar and in Ar/N2 and Ar/air mixtures

Abstract

The vacuum ultraviolet (VUV) emissions from a cylindrical dielectric barrier discharge (C-DBD) excited by radio frequency (rf) power at 13.56 MHz in both pure Ar and mixtures of Ar with N2 and air were analysed. Measurements of the relative emission intensity of the excimer second continuum in pure argon were carried out as a function of pressure, rf power and gas flow rate. In Ar–N2 and Ar–air mixtures, we studied the emission of the N I and O I atomic lines as a function of N2/air concentration and total pressure. Channels of energy transfer from the argon metastables and excimers to atomic nitrogen and oxygen in excited Ar–N2 (Ar–air) mixtures were analysed based on the dependence of the intensity of the VUV emissions on the discharge operating parameters and the gas mixture.