Study of An Unsymmetrical Shadow Mask PDP with High Luminous Efficacy

A new shadow mask plasma display panel （SMPDP） is presented in this article. The unsymmetrical geometry structure of the discharge cell is its main feature. A macro-cell with a ratio of 40：1 was designed and fabricated. The geometrical parameters and electrode＇s structure of the discharge cell of the unsymmetrical SMPDP were optimized. Compared with current SMPDP, its luminous efficiency was obviously improved. Then a 32-inch wide video graphics array （WVGA） unsymmetrical SMPDP with a luminous efficacy of 1.8 Lm/W was produced.     

Decoloration of Azo Dye Sunset Yellow by a Coaxial Insulated-Rod-to-Cylinder Underwater Streamer Discharge System

A coaxial insulated-rod-to-cylinder underwater streamer discharge system capable of injecting plasma into a large volume of water was developed and employed to decolorize azo dye sunset yellow. The rod type anode was covered by an insulator tube with a wall thickness of 0.4 mm. A series of slits with a width of 20 μm to 80 μm and a length of about 4 mm were cut onto the wall of the insulator tube. Depending on the solution conductivity, a cylindrical discharge region with a length of 60 mm and a wall thickness of 5 mm to 11 mm forms in the reactor. The influence of the solution conductivity, pH and pulse frequency on the decoloration of sunset yellow was investigated. The results show that the solution conductivity has little effect, while the solution pH and the pulse frequency have significant influence on the decoloration rate of sunset yellow. The decoloration rate of sunset yellow is increased with the increase in pulse frequency. A lower pH in solution promotes the decoloration of sunset yellow while a higher pH inhibits it.     

Evolution of the Pulse Width in Dielectric Barrier Atmospheric Pressure Discharge

A study of the evolution of the pulse width in homogeneous dielectric barrier dis-charge at atmospheric pressure with helium as the working gas is reported by using a one-dimensional fluid model.In this paper,a new computational method is presented to estimate the pulse width through calculating the time interval between the breakdown voltage and the extinguishing voltage.The effects on the discharge characteristics of the applied voltage and exci-tation frequency are studied based on the computational data.The results of the simulation show that the pulse width is observed to be narrower and the time intervals between two consecutive current pulses decrease with increasing amplitude and excitation frequency,which indicates that the homogeneous discharge is susceptible to the filamentary mode.The simulation results support the conclusion that in order to restrain the transition from the glow mode to filamentary mode,the applied voltage and excitation frequency should be kept within an appropriate range.     

Effect of Wall Charge on Striation in Plasma Display Cells

Different configurations and driving voltages have been employed to investigate the effect of the wall charge on the striations in macroscopic plasma display panel （PDP） cells. The experimental results show that a discharge channel near the dielectric layer is indispensable to striation occurring in the anode area during a discharge, while the pre-accumulated charge on the dielectric layer and the surface state are not important. The origin of the striation is related only to the physical process in the cell. The dielectric layer acts as a charge collector during a PDP discharge.     

Properties of intermediate-frequency vacuum arc in sinusoidal curved contact and butt contact

In this report,two new contact structures of a vacuum interrupter with a sinusoidal curved surface are proposed to improve the capability by increasing the surface area.The experimental investigation of vacuum arc at intermediate frequency(360-800 Hz)was conducted and the results were compared with a butt contact with the same contact diameter(41 mm)and the same material.By analyzing the arc behavior,arc voltage characteristics,arc energy,current interrupting capacity,ablation of the anode contact and condensation of the arc products at a 3 mm gap,the differences in their vacuum arc characteristics were determined.The correlations of their arc energy with the amplitude and the frequency of the current were also achieved.Analysis suggests that the ruled curved contact has strong application potentiality because of its low arc energy,low arc voltage noise and arc voltage peak,light ablation on the surface of the anode contact and high interrupting capacity.     

Characteristics of RF Cold Plasma at Atmospheric Pressure

The characteristics of a stable discharge at atmospheric pressure is investigated. The plasma source consisted of two closely spaced parallel-plated perforated electrodes, driven by a radio frequency power to generate a uniform cold plasma in Helium at atmospheric pressure. Both alpha and gamma modes were clearly observed. The hollow cathode effects were found in the discharge. The influence of the dielectric barrier on the discharge was also investigated by utilizing a surface-anodized aluminium electrode as the anode.     

Evolution of Striation in Pulsed Glow Discharges

In this work,striations in pulsed glow discharges are studied by experiments and Particle-In-Cell/Monte Carlo Collision (PIC/MCC) simulation.The spatio-temporal evolution of the potential and the electron energy during the discharge are analyzed.The processes of striation formation in pulsed glow discharges and dielectric barrier discharges (DBD) are compared.The results show that the mechanisms of striation in pulsed DC discharge and DBD are similar to each other.The evolution of electron energy distribution function before and after the striation formation indicates that the striation results from the potential well of the space charge.During a pulsed breakdown,the striations are formed one by one towards the anode in a weak field channel.This indicates that the formation of striations in a pulsed discharge depends on the flow of modulated electrons.     

Discharge Characteristics of DC Arc Water Plasma for Environmental Applications

A water plasma was generated by DC arc discharge with a hafnium embedded rodtype cathode and a nozzle-type anode.The discharge characteristics were examined by changing the operation parameter of the arc current.The dynamic behavior of the arc discharge led to significant fluctuations in the arc voltage and its frequency.Analyses of the high speed image and the arc voltage waveform showed that the arc discharge was in the restrike mode and its frequency varied within several tens of kilohertz according to the operating conditions.The larger thermal plasma volume was generated by the higher flow from the forming steam with a higher restrike frequency in the higher arc current conditions.In addition,the characteristics of the water plasma jet were investigated by means of optical emission spectroscopy to identify the abundant radicals required in an efficient waste treatment process.     

Frequency dependence of electron temperature in hollow cathode-type discharge as measured by several different floating probe methods

We measured electron temperatures through a hollow cathode-type discharge tube using several different floating probe methods.This method detected a shift in the floating potential when an AC voltage was applied to a probe through an intermediary blocking capacitor.The shift in the floating potential is described as a function of the electron temperature and the applied AC voltage.In this study,the effects of the frequency and waveform on the electron temperatures were systematically investigated.The electron temperature measured when using the floating probe method with applied sinusoidal and triangular voltages was lower than that measured with an applied rectangular voltage.The value in the high frequency range was close to that of the tail electron temperature.     

Numerical Simulation of Low Current Vacuum Arc Supersonic Flow

Based on a two-dimensional axisymmetric magneto-hydrodynamic （MHD） model, low current vacuum arc （LCVA） characteristics are studied. The influence of cathode process under different axial magnetic fields and different anode radii on LCVA characteristics is also simulated. The results show that the influence of both cathode process and anode radii on LCVA is significant. The sign of anode sheath potentials can change from negative to positive with the decrease of anode radii. The simulation results are in part verified by experimental results. Especially, as the effect of ion kinetic energy is considered, ion temperature is improved significantly; which is in agreement with experimental results.     

Ion Heating in an ECR Plasma with a Magnetic Mirror Field

Magnetoelectric heating was used to heat ions in an ECR plasma with a magnetic mirror field.The temperature and density of ions were measured by an ion sensitive probe(ISP) before and after magnetoelectric heating in order to investigate the influence of the anode ring’s radius,axial position and working pressure on magnetoelectric heating.Results showed that a suitable radius of the anode ring could improve the ion temperature effectively and the optimal size of the anode ring depended on the cyclotron radius of ions.The radial uniformity of the ion density was improved by increasing the radius of the anode ring after heating.The magnetic mirror field could reduce the loss of ions caused by collision with the wall of the chamber and it was beneficial to increase the ion temperature and the ion density.It was suitable to heat the ions when the anode ring was set at the center of the magnetic mirror field where there was a weaker magnetic field strength.Lower pressure contributed to the increase in the ion temperature and efficiency of magnetoelectric heating.     

Effects of Xe Gas Content and Total Gas Pressure on the Discharge Characteristics of Colour Plasma Display Panels

The effects of the Xe gas content and total gas pressure on the discharge characteristics of colour plasma display panels including the sustaining voltage margin, white-field chromaticity, discharge time lag （DTL）, discharge current peak, and full-width-at-half-maximum （FWHM） of the discharge current pulse, are experimentally studied. The results indicate that as the Xe gas content in the He-Ne-Xe gas mixture or total pressure increases, the sustaining voltage margin increases, the white-field chromaticity improves, and the discharge current peak has a maximum value, while DTL and FWHM have a minimum value. The mean electron energy in the gas mixture discharge is also calculated through a numerical solution of Boltzmann equation. The experimental results are explained from a view of the mean electron energy variations with the Xe gas content and total gas pressure.     

Characterization and comprehension of corona partial discharge in air under power frequency to very low frequency voltage

For the partial discharge test of electrical equipment with large capacitance, the use of lowfrequency voltage instead of power frequency voltage can effectively reduce the capacity requirements of test power supply. However, the validity of PD test under low frequency voltage needs to be evaluated. In order to investigate the influence of voltage frequency on corona discharge in the air, the discharge test of the tip-plate electrode under the frequency from 50 to 0.1 Hz is carried out based on the impulse current method. The results show that some of the main features of corona under low frequency do not change. The magnitude of discharge in a positive half cycle is obviously larger than that in a negative cycle. The magnitude of discharge and interval in positive cycle are random, while that in negative cycle are regular. With the decrease of frequency, the inception voltage increases. The variation trend of maximum and average magnitude and repetition rate of the discharge in positive and negative half cycle with the variation of voltage frequency and magnitude is demonstrated, with discussion and interpretation from the aspects of space charge transportation, effective discharge time and transition of discharge modes. There is an obvious difference in the phase resolved pattern of partial discharge and characteristic parameters of discharge patterns between power and low frequency. The experimental results can be the reference for mode identification of partial discharge under low frequency tests. The trend of the measured parameters with the variation of frequency provides more information about the insulation defect than traditional measurements under a single frequency (usually 50 Hz). Also it helps to understand the mechanism of corona discharge with an explanation of the characteristics under different frequencies.     

Study of Metal and Ceramic Thermionic Vacuum arc Discharges

The thermionic vacuum arc （TVA） is a new type of plasma source, which generates a pure metal and ceramic vapour plasma containing ions with a directed energy. TVA discharges can be ignited in high vacuum conditions between a heated cathode （electron gun） and an anode （tungsten crucible） containing the material. The accelerated electron beam, incident on the anode, heats the crucible, together with its contents, to a high temperature. After establishing a steadystate density of the evaporating anode material atoms, and when the voltage applied is high enough, a bright discharge is ignited between the electrodes. We generated silver and Al2O3 TVA discharges in order to compare the metal and ceramic TVA discharges. The electrical and optical characteristics of silver and Al2O3 TVA discharges were analysed. The TVA is also a new technique for the deposition of thin films. The film condenses on the sample from the plasma state of the vapour phase of the anode material, generated by a TVA. We deposited silver and Al2O3 thin films onto an aluminium substrate layer-by-layer using their TVA discharges, and produced micro and/or nano-layer Ag-Al2O3 composite samples. The composite samples using scanning electron microscopy was also analysed.     

Investigation of Plasma Polymerized Maleic Anhydride Film in a Middle Frequency Dielectric Barrier Discharge

Plasma polymerized maleic anhydride （MA） was carried out by using maleic anhydride supersaturated ethanol solution as a precursor in a dielectric barrier discharge （DBD）. The film properties were characterized by water contact angle （WCA）, Fourier transfer infrared （FTIR）, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy （XPS）, atomic force microscope （AFM） analysis, and a thickness profilometer. The influence of the processing parameters on the film properties such as tile power frequency and polymerization zone was investigated. The results show that anhydride group incorporated into the growing films is favorable at the frequency of 80 kHz and working pressure of 50 Pa. The poly （maleic anhydride） film is uniform and compact at an average deposition rate of 8 nm/min.     

Experimental investigation of lift enhancement for flying wing aircraft using nanosecond DBD plasma actuators

The effects of the arrangement position and control parameters of nanosecond dielectric barrier discharge(NS-DBD)plasma actuators on lift enhancement for flying wing aircraft were investigated through wind tunnel experiments at a flow speed of 25 m s~(-1).The aerodynamic forces and moments were obtained by a six-component balance at angles of attack ranging from-4°to 28°.The lift,drag and pitching moment coefficients were compared for the cases with and without plasma control.The results revealed that the maximum control effect was achieved by placing the actuator at the leading edge of the inner and middle wing,for which the maximum lift coefficient increased by 37.8%and the stall angle of attack was postponed by 8°compared with the plasma-off case.The effects of modulation frequency and discharge voltage were also investigated.The results revealed that the lift enhancement effect of the NS-DBD plasma actuators was strongly influenced by the modulation frequency.Significant control effects were obtained at/=70 Hz,corresponding to F~+≈1.The result for the pitching moment coefficient demonstrated that the plasma actuator can induce the reattachment of the separation flows when it is actuated.However,the results indicated that the discharge voltage had a negligible influence on the lift enhancement effect.     

Convection effect on an arc plasma evolution process in a two parallel contact system

A low voltage circuit breaker(LVCB) is an important piece of protection equipment which will switch off the fault current in a power system. The moving contact of a low voltage circuit breaker with a higher rated current consists of two parallel contacts. Therefore, the convection effect on the air arc evolution process in a two parallel contact system is analyzed. A threedimensional(3 D) magneto–hydro–dynamic(MHD) model of arc simulation is built. In this model, the anode consists of two parallel contacts and a bonding conductor. A nonlinear voltage–current density characteristic is employed to represent the near-anode and near-cathode voltage. The current density, arc voltage and currents through every contact are obtained. The influence of convection and conduction on the arc evolution process are quantitatively calculated. The displacements of the arc roots are obtained and the asymmetry of the arc root motion is analyzed. The arc evolution process of a two parallel contact system is preliminarily revealed.     

The Dynamic Volt-Ampere Characteristics of a Vacuum Arc at Intermediate-Frequency Under a Transverse Magnetic Field

In this study, the changes of a vacuum arc’s appearance were observed and the volt-ampere characteristics of the vacuum arc at intermediate frequency were analyzed under a transverse magnetic field (TMF). The TMF and phase shift time were calculated by using the TMF contact model and the large phase shift of the magnetic field at a higher frequency was conductive to the dispersion process of residual plasma. The arc velocity was higher at 800 Hz than at 400 Hz. It can be inferred that TMF will encourage arc movement at 800 Hz. Moreover, the arc movement has an impact on the arc voltage. Because of the increasing length of the arc column with a high arc velocity, the elongated arc causes the arc voltage to increase. Specifically, the volt-ampere characteristics of the vacuum arc are divided into three stages in this paper. The higher the frequency, the greater the initial rate of rise in the arc voltage and the larger the area surrounded by arc volt-ampere characteristics. The correlations between the arc voltage and the amplitude and frequency of the current are also presented.     

Density Modulation Experiments to Determine Particle Transport Coefficients on HT-7 Tokamak

The particle diffusion coefficient and the convection velocity were studied based on the density modulation using D2 gas puffing on the HT-7 tokamak. The density was measured by a five-channel FIR interferometer. The density modulation amplitude was 10% of the central chord averaged background density and the modulation frequency was 10 Hz in the experiments. The particle diffusion coefficient （D） and the convection velocity （V） were obtained for different background plasmas with the central chord averaged density 〈ne〉 = 1.5×10^19m^-3 and 3.0×10^19 m^-3 respectively. It was observed that the influence of density modulation on the main plasma parameters was very weak. This technology is expected to be useful for the analysis of LHW and IBW heated plasmas on HT-7 tokamak in the near future.     

Effects of discharge parameters on the micro-hollow cathode sustained glow discharge

The effects of parameters such as pressure, first anode radius, and the cavity diameter on the micro-hollow cathode sustained glow discharge are investigated by using a two-dimensional self-consistent fluid model in pure argon. The results indicate that the three parameters influence the discharge in the regions inside and outside of the cavity. Under a fixed voltage on each electrode, a larger volume of high density plasma can be produced in the region between the first and the second anodes by selecting the appropriate pressure, the higher first anode, and the appropriate cavity diameter. As the pressure increases, the electron density inside the hollow cathode, the high density plasma volume between the first anode and second anodes, and the radial electric field in the cathode cavity initially increase and subsequently decrease. As the cavity diameter increases, the high-density plasma volume between the first and second anodes initially increases and subsequently decreases; whereas the electron density inside the hollow cathode decreases. As the first anode radius increases, the electron density increases both inside and outside of the cavity. Moreover, the increase of the electron density is more obvious in the microcathode sustained region than in the micro cavity region. The results reveal that the discharge inside the cavity interacts with that outside the cavity. The strong hollow cathode effect and the high-density plasma inside the cavity favor the formation of a sustained discharge between the first anode and the second anodes. Results also show that the radial boundary conditions exert a considerably weaker influence on the discharge except for a little change in the region close to the radial boundary.