Diagnosis of Electron, Vibrational and Rotational Temperatures in an Ar/N2 Shock Plasma Jet Produced by a Low Pressure DC Cascade Arc Discharge

In this paper,a low pressure Ar/N2 shock plasma jet with clearly multicycle alternating zones produced by a DC cascade arc discharge has been investigated by an emission spectral method combined with Abel inversion analysis.Plasma emission intensity,electron,vibrational and rotational temperatures of the shock plasma have been measured in the expansion and compression zones.The results indicate that the ranges of the measured electron temperature,vibrational temperature and rotational temperature are 1.1 eV to 1.6 eV,0.2 eV to 0.7 eV and 0.19 eV to 0.22 eV,respectively,and it is found for the first time that the vibrational and rotational temperatures increase while the electron temperature decreases in the compression zones.The electron temperature departs from the vibrational and the rotational temperatures due to non-equilibrium plasma efects.Electrons and heavy particles could not completely exchange energy via collisions in the shock plasma jet under the low pressure of 620 Pa or so.     

Dust Acoustic Compressive Waves in a Warm Dusty Plasma Having Non-Thermal Ions and Non-Isothermal Electrons

In this article an investigation is presented on the properties of dust acoustic(DA)compressive solitary wave propagation in an adiabatic dusty plasma,including the effect of nonthermal positive and negative ions and non-isothermal electrons.The reductive perturbation method has been employed to derive the lower degree modified Kadomtsev-Petviashivili(mK-P),3D Schamel-Korteweg-de-Vries equation or modified Kadomtsev-Petviashivili(mK-P) equations for dust acoustic solitary waves in a homogeneous,unmagnetized and collisionless plasma whose constituents are non-isothermal electrons,singly charged positive and negative non-thermal ions and massive charged dust particles.The stationary analytical solutions of the lower degree mK-P and mK-P equations are numerically analyzed,where the effect of various dusty plasma constituents on DA solitary wave propagation is taken into account.It is observed that both the ions in dusty plasma play a key role in the formation of DA compressive solitary waves,and also the ion concentration and non-isothermal electrons control the transformation of the compressive potentials of the waves.     

Propagation Properties of Electromagnetic Wave in a Plasma Slab

In this paper, the calculated results about the propagation properties of electromag-netic wave in a plasma slab are described. The relationship of the propagation properties with frequencies of electromagnetic wave, and parameters of plasma (electron temperature, electron density, dimensionless collision frequency and the size of the plasma slab) is analyzed.     

Optical Emission Spectroscopic Measurement of Hydroxyl Radicals in Air Discharge with Atomized Water

Effects of discharge mode, voltage applied, size of the nozzle discharge electrode and flow rate of water on the generation of hydroxyl radical were investigate...     

Characterization of a Microhollow Cathode Discharge Plasma in Helium or Air with Water Vapor

Microhollow cathode discharge (MHCD) plasmas were generated in gas mixtures containing water vapor at pressures of up to 100 kPa of He or 20 kPa of air. The cathode diameter was 1.0 mm with a length of 2.0 mm. The electrical characteristics showed an abnormal glow mode. Spectroscopic measurements were carried out to examine the plasma and radicals. An analysis of the spectral profile of Hα at 656.3 nm enabled a derivation of the electron densities, namely 2×10 14 cm 3 (at 10 kPa) and 6×10 14 cm 3 (at 4 kPa) for the helium and air atmospheres, respectively, in the negative glow region. By comparing the observed OH radical spectra with those calculated by the simulation code LIFBASE, the gas temperature was deduced to be 900 K for 4 kPa of He at a discharge current of 50 mA.     

Numerical and Experimental Investigation on the Attenuation of Electromagnetic Waves in Unmagnetized Plasmas Using Inductively Coupled Plasma Actuator

The attenuation of electromagnetic(EM) waves in unmagnetized plasma generated by an inductively coupled plasma(ICP) actuator has been investigated both theoretically and experimentally. A numerical study is conducted to investigate the propagation of EM waves in multilayer plasma structures which cover a square flat plate. Experimentally, an ICP actuator with dimensions of 20 cm×20 cm×4 cm is designed to produce a steady plasma slab. The attenuation of EM waves in the plasma generated by the ICP actuator is measured by a reflectivity arch test method at incident waves of 2.3 GHz and 10.1 GHz, respectively. A contrastive analysis of calculated and measured results of these incident wave frequencies is presented, which suggests that the experiment accords well with our theory. As expected, the plasma slab generated by the ICP actuator can effectively attenuate the EM waves, which may have great potential application prospects in aircraft stealth.     

Observation of Vortex Patterns in a Magnetized Dusty Plasma System

Vortex patterns of dust particles have been observed in a magnetized dusty plasma system. The formation mechanism of two-dimensional （2D） vortex patterns has been investigated by analysing the forces acting on dust particles and molecular dynamics （MD） simulations in a 2D confined magnetized dusty plasma. It has been found that with a weak confining electric field and a strong magnetic field, the particles＇ trajectories will form a vortex shape. The simulation results agree with our experimental observations. In our experiments, vortex patterns can be induced via circular rotation of particles by changing the rf （radio-frequency） power in a magnetized dusty plasma.     

Power Absorption of High Frequency Electromagnetic Waves in a Partially Ionized Plasma Layer in Atmosphere Conditions

We have studied the absorption, reflection, and transmission of electromagnetic waves in an unmagnetized uniform plasma layer covering a metal surface in atmosphere conditions. Instead of the absorption of the electromagnetic wave propagating only once in previous work on the plasma layer, a general formula of total power absorption by the plasma layer with an infinite time of reflections between the atmosphere-plasma interface and the metal surface has been derived for the first time. Effects of plasma parameters, especially the dependence of the fraction of positive lons, negative ions and electrons in plasmas on the power absorption processes are discussed. The results show that the existence of negative ions significantly reduces the power absorption of the electromagnetic wave. Absorptions of electromagnetic waves are calculated.     

Observation of Low Frequency Instability in a Magnetized Plasma Column

Detailed analysis of the low frequency instability is performed in a linear magnetized steady state plasma device. Identification and modification of the instability are presented.     

Quantitative Determination of Density of Ground State Atomic Oxygen from Both TALIF and Emission Spectroscopy in Hot Air Plasma Generated by Microwave Resonant Cavity

Two experimental techniques have been used to quantify the atomic oxygen density in the case of hot air plasma generated by a microwave (MW) resonant cavity. The latter operates at a frequency of 2.45 GHz inside a cell of gas conditioning at a pressure of 600 mbar, an injected air flow of 12 L/min and an input MW power of 1 kW. The first technique is based on the standard two photon absorption laser induced fluorescence (TALIF) using xenon for calibration but applied for the first time in the present post discharge hot air plasma column having a temperature of about 4500 K near the axis of the nozzle. The second diagnostic technique is an actinometry method based on optical emission spectroscopy (OES). In this case, we compared the spectra intensities of a specific atomic oxygen line (844 nm) and the closest wavelength xenon line (823 nm). The two lines need to be collected under absolutely the same spectroscopic parameters. The xenon emission is due to the addition of a small proportion of xenon (1% Xe) of this chemically inert gas inside the air while a further small quantity of H₂ (2%) is also added in the mixture in order to collect OH(A¬X) and NH(A-X) spectra without noise. The latter molecular spectra are required to estimate gas and excitation temperatures. Optical emission spectroscopy measurements, at for instance the position z=12 mm on the axis plasma column that leads to a gas measured temperature equal to 3500 K, an excitation temperature of about 9500 K and an atomic oxygen density 2.09×1017± 0.2×10¹⁷ cm ⁻³ . This is in very good agreement with the TALIF measurement, which is equal to 2.0×10¹⁷ cm ⁻³ .     

Influence of a Static Magnetic Field on Laser Induced Tungsten Plasma in Air

In this work,laser induced tungsten plasma has been investigated in the absence and presence of 0.6 T static transverse magnetic field at atmospheric pressure in air.The spectroscopic characterization of laser induced tungsten plasma was experimentally studied using space-resolved emission spectroscopy.The atomic emission lines of tungsten showed a significant enhancement in the presence of a magnetic field,while the ionic emission lines of tungsten presented little change.Temporal variation of the optical emission lines of tungsten indicated that the atomic emission time in the presence of a magnetic field was longer than that in the absence of a magnetic field,while no significant changes occurred for the ionic emission time.The spatial resolution of optical emission lines of tungsten demonstrated that the spatial distribution of atoms and ions were separated.The influence of a magnetic field on the spatial distribution of atoms was remarkable,whereas the spatial distribution of ions was little influenced by the magnetic field.The different behaviors between ions and atoms with and without magnetic field in air were related to the various atomic processes especially the electrons and ions recombination process during the plasma expansion and cooling process.     

The Instability of Terahertz Plasma Waves in Two Dimensional Gated and Ungated Quantum Electron Gas

The instability of terahertz(THz)plasma waves in two-dimensional(2D)quantum electron gas in a nanometer field effect transistor(FET)with asymmetrical boundary conditions has been investigated.We analyze THz plasma waves of two parts of the 2D quantum electron gas:gated and ungated regions.The results show that the radiation frequency and the increment(radiation power)in 2D ungated quantum electron gas are much higher than that in 2D gated quantum electron gas.The quantum effects always enhance the radiation power and enlarge the region of instability in both cases.This allows us to conclude that 2D quantum electron gas in the transistor channel is important for the emission and detection process and both gated and ungated parts take part in that process.     

Control of Beam Energy and Flux Ratio in an Ion-Beam-Background Plasma System Produced in a Double Plasma Device

Plasmas containing ion beams have various applications both in plasma technology and in fundamental research. The ion beam energy and flux are the two factors characterizing the beam properties. Previous studies have not achieved the independent adjustment of these two parameters. In this paper, an ion-beam-background-plasma system was produced with hotcathode discharge in a double plasma device separated by two adjacent grids, with which the beam energy and flux ratio(the ratio between the beam flux and total ion flux) can be controlled independently. It is shown that the discharge voltage(i.e., voltage across the hot-cathode and anode) and the voltage drop between the two separation grids can be used to effectively control the beam energy while the flux ratio is not affected by these voltages. The flux ratio depends sensitively on hot-filaments heating current whose influence on the beam energy is relatively weak,and thus enabling approximate control of the flux ratio     

Effect of High-Frequency Electric Field on Propagation of Electrostatic Wave in a Non-Uniform Relativistic Plasma Waveguide

The effect of a high frequency （HF） electric field on the propagation of electrostatic wave in a 2D non-uniform relativistic plasma waveguide is investigated. A variable separation method is applied to the two-fluid plasma model. An analytical study of the reflection of electrostatic wave propagation along a magnetized non-uniform relativistic plasma slab subjected to an intense HF electric field is presented and compared with the case of a non relativistic plasma. It is found that, when the frequency of the incident wave is close to the relativistic electron plasma frequency, the plasma is less reflective due to the presence of both an HF field and the effect of relativistic electrons. On the other hand, for a low-frequency incident wave the reflection coefficient is directly proportional to the amplitude of the HF field. Also, it is shown that the relativistic electron plasma leads to a decrease in the value of reflection coefficient in comparison with the case of the non relativistic plasma.     

Nonplanar Shock Excitations in a Four Component Degenerate Quantum Plasma:the Effects of Various Charge States of Heavy Ions

A theoretical study on the nonlinear propagation of nonplanar(cylindrical and spherical) electrostatic modified ion-acoustic(mIA) shock structures has been carried out in an unmagnetized,collisionless four component degenerate plasma system(containing degenerate electron fluids,inertial positively as well as negatively charged light ions,and positively charged static heavy ions).This investigation is valid for both non-relativistic and ultra-relativistic limits.The modified Burgers(mB) equation has been derived by employing the reductive perturbation method,and used to numerically analyze the basic features of shock structures.It has been found that the effects of degenerate pressure and number density of electron and inertial positively as well as negatively charged light ion fluids,and various charging state of positively charged static heavy ions significantly modify the basic features of mIA shock structures.The implications of our results to dense plasmas in astrophysical compact objects(e.g.,non-rotating white dwarfs,neutron stars,etc.) are briefly discussed.     

Discharge Characteristics of an Atmospheric Pressure Argon Plasma Jet Generated with Screw Ring-Ring Electrodes in Surface Dielectric Barrier Discharge

An atmospheric-pressure argon plasma jet with screw ring-ring electrodes in surface dielectric barrier discharge is generated by a sinusoidal excitation voltage at 8 kHz. The discharge characteristics, such as rotational and vibrational temperature of nitrogen, electronic excitation temperature, oxygen atomic density, nitrogen molecular density, and average electron density, are estimated. It is found that the rotational temperature of nitrogen is in the range of 352 ～ 392 K by comparing the simulated spectrum with the measured spectrum at the C3Πu→ B3Πg (△ν = 2) band transition, the electronic excitation temperature is found to be in the range of 3127 ～ 3230 K by using the Boltzmann plot method, the oxygen atomic and nitrogen molecular density are of the order of magnitude of 1016 cm-3 by the actinometry method, and the average electron density is of the order of magnitude of 1012 cm-3 by the energy balance equation. Besides, the effective power, conduction, and displacement current are measured during the discharge.     

Spatial Resolution Measurements of C,Si and Mo Using LIBS for Diagnostics of Plasma Facing Materials in a Fusion Device

Recently,a laser-induced breakdown spectroscopic(LIBS) system has been developed for in situ measurements of the chemical compositions of plasma facing materials(PFMs)in the Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak(EAST).In this study,a LIBS system,which was used in a similar optical configuration to the in situ LIBS system in EAST,has been developed to investigate the spatial distribution of PFM elements at 1CP4 Pa.The aim of this study was to understand the nature of the spatial distribution of atoms or ions of different elements in the plasma plume and optimize the signal to background ratio for the in situ LIBS diagnosis in EAST.The spatial profiles of the LIBS signals of C,Si,Mo and the continuous background were measured.Moreover,the influence of laser spot size and laser energy density on the LIBS signals of C,Si,Mo and H was also investigated.The results show that the distribution of the C,Si and Mo peaks' intensities first increased and then decreased from the center to the edge of the plasma plume.There was a maximum value at R≈1.5 mm from the center of the plasma plume.This work aims to improve the understanding of ablating plasma dynamics in very low pressure environments and give guidance to optimize the LIBS system in the EAST device.     

Design and Fabrication of a Movable Langmuir Probe for Plasma Edge Parameters Measurement in the IR-T1 Tokamak

For the edge plasma parameters measurement, a movable Langmuir probe is fabricated and installed on the IR-T1 tokamak. The set-up consists of two sets of single Langmuir probes with tungsten tip movable in the radial direction. Edge plasma parameters including electron temperature, Ion density, floating potential and the corresponding radial changes are measured. Using two-point correlation technique clearly reveal that in the SOL region the poloidal propagation of floating potential fluctuation is in the direction of ion diamagnetic drift and in the edge it propagates in the electron diamagnetic drift direction.     

Measurement of electron density and electron temperature of a cascaded arc plasma using laser Thomson scattering compared to an optical emission spectroscopic approach

As advanced linear plasma sources, cascaded arc plasma devices have been used to generate steady plasma with high electron density, high particle flux and low electron temperature. To measure electron density and electron temperature of the plasma device accurately, a laser Thomson scattering(LTS) system, which is generally recognized as the most precise plasma diagnostic method, has been established in our lab in Dalian University of Technology. The electron density has been measured successfully in the region of 4.5?×?10(19)m~(-3) to7.1?×?10~(20)m~(-3) and electron temperature in the region of 0.18 eV to 0.58 eV. For comparison,an optical emission spectroscopy(OES) system was established as well. The results showed that the electron excitation temperature(configuration temperature) measured by OES is significantly higher than the electron temperature(kinetic electron temperature) measured by LTS by up to 40% in the given discharge conditions. The results indicate that the cascaded arc plasma is recombining plasma and it is not in local thermodynamic equilibrium(LTE). This leads to significant error using OES when characterizing the electron temperature in a non-LTE plasma.     

Excitation and Propagetion of Modified Fluctuation in a Toroidal Plasma in KT—5C Device

Understanding the propagation of the turbulent perturbation in the tokamak edge plasma is an important issue to actively modify or control the turbulence,reduce the anomalous transport and improve plasma confinement.To realize active modification of the edge perturbation,a high dynamic output,broad-band,low-cost power amplifier is set up,and used to drive the active probes in the experiments on KT-5C Tokmak.By using small-size magnetic probes together with Langmiur probes,It is observed that the modified perturbation by the active probes with sufficiently driving power may spread with electrostatic mode,and electromagnetic mode as well.