Dc Daan Schram

Characterization of a direct DC-excited discharge in water by optical emission spectroscopy

Dc-excited discharges generated in water at the tip of a tungsten wire which is located at the orifice of a quartz capillary are investigated by time-averaged optical emission spectroscopy.Two distinctive discharge modes are observed. For small conductivities of the liquid the discharge is a streamer-like discharge in the liquid itself (liquid mode). For conductivities above typically 45 µS cm−1 a large vapour bubble is formed and a streamer discharge in this vapour bubble is observed (bubble mode).Plasma temperatures and electron densities are investigated for both modes. The gas temperature is estimated from the rotational temperature of N2(C–B) and is 1600 ± 200 K for the bubble mode and 1900 ± 200 K for the liquid mode. The rotational temperature of OH(A–X) is up to 2 times larger and cannot be used as an estimate for the gas temperature. The rotational population distribution of OH(A), ν = 0 is also non-Boltzmann with a large overpopulation of high rotational states. This discrepancy in rotational temperatures is discussed in detail.Electron densities are obtained from the Stark broadening of the hydrogen Balmer beta line. The electron densities in the liquid mode are of the order of 1021 m−3. In the bubble mode electron densities are significantly smaller: (3–4) × 1020 m−3. These values are compared with the Stark broadening of the hydrogen alpha and gamma lines and with electron densities obtained from current density measurements. The chemical reactivities of the bubble and liquid modes are compared by means of the hydrogen peroxide production rate.

Plasma–liquid interactions: a review and roadmap

Plasma–liquid interactions represent a growing interdisciplinary area of research involving plasma science, fluid dynamics, heat and mass transfer, photolysis, multiphase chemistry and aerosol science. This review provides an assessment of the state-of-the-art of this multidisciplinary area and identifies the key research challenges. The developments in diagnostics, modeling and further extensions of cross section and reaction rate databases that are necessary to address these challenges are discussed. The review focusses on non-equilibrium plasmas.

On OH production in water containing atmospheric pressure plasmas

In this paper radical production in atmospheric pressure water containing plasmas is discussed. As OH is often an important radical in these discharges the paper focuses on OH production.Besides nanosecond pulsed coronas and diffusive glow discharges, several other atmospheric pressure plasmas which are of interest nowadays have a typical electron temperature in the range 1–2 eV and an ionization degree of 10−5–10−4. These properties are quite different from the typical plasma properties known from low pressure gas discharges.In the plasma physics literature OH production is primarily ascribed to be due to electron, metastable induced or thermal dissociation of water, processes which are dominant in (low pressure) gas discharges and in combustion and hot flames. It is shown in this paper that for several atmospheric pressure plasmas also dissociative recombination can be an effective method of OH radical production. Several examples are presented in detail.This paper provides a basic framework for OH production in atmospheric pressure plasmas and shows that accurate knowledge of ne, Te, Tg, the dominant ionic species, radical and neutral species are indispensable to obtain a complete view on the chemical kinetics in these challenging complex atmospheric pressure plasmas. A few relevant plasma diagnostics together with their limitations are also briefly discussed in this context.

Extreme hydrogen plasma densities achieved in a linear plasma generator

A magnetized hydrogen plasma beam was generated with a cascaded arc, expanding in a vacuum vessel at an axial magnetic field of up to 1.6T. Its characteristics were measured at a distance of 4cm from the nozzle: up to a 2cm beam diameter, 7.5×1020m−3 electron density, ∼2eV electron and ion temperatures, and 3.5km∕s axial plasma velocity. This gives a 2.6×1024H+m−2s−1 peak ion flux density, which is unprecedented in linear plasma generators. The high efficiency of the source is obtained by the combined action of the magnetic field and an optimized nozzle geometry. This is interpreted as a cross-field return current that leads to power dissipation in the beam just outside the source.

Gas temperature determination from rotational lines in non-equilibrium plasmas: a review

The gas temperature in non-equilibrium plasmas is often obtained from the plasma-induced emission by measuring the rotational temperature of a diatomic molecule in its excited state. This is motivated by both tradition and the availability of low budget spectrometers. However, non-thermal plasmas do not automatically guarantee that the rotational distribution in the monitored vibrational level of the diatomic molecule is in equilibrium with the translational (gas) temperature. Often non-Boltzmann rotational molecular spectra are found in non-equilibrium plasmas. The deduction of a gas temperature from these non-thermal distributions must be done with care as clearly the equilibrium between translational and rotational degrees of freedom cannot be achieved. In this contribution different methods and approaches to determine the gas temperature are evaluated and discussed. A detailed analysis of the gas temperature determination from rotational spectra is performed. The physical and chemical background of non-equilibrium rotational population distributions in molecular spectra is discussed and a large range of conditions for which non-equilibrium occurs are identified. Fitting procedures which are used to fit (non-equilibrium) rotational distributions are analyzed in detail. Lastly, recommendations concerning the conditions for which the gas temperatures can be obtained from diatomic spectra are formulated.

Plasma chemistry aspects of a-Si:H deposition using an expanding thermal plasma

The plasma chemistry of an argon/hydrogen expanding thermal arc plasma in interaction with silane injected downstream is analyzed using mass spectrometry. The dissociation mechanism and the consumption of silane are related to the ion and atomic hydrogen fluence emanating from the arc source. It is argued that as a function of hydrogen admixture in the arc, which has a profound decreasing effect on the ion-electron fluence emanating from the arc source, the dissociation mechanism of silane shifts from ion-electron induced dissociation towards atomic hydrogen induced dissociation. The latter case, the hydrogen abstraction of silane, leads to a dominance of the silyl (SiH3) radical whereas the ion-electron induced dissociation mechanism leads to SiHx (x<3) radicals. In the pure argon case, the consumption of silane is high and approximately two silane molecules are consumed per argon ion-electron pair. It is shown that this is caused by consecutive reactions of radicals SiHx (x<3) with silane. Almost indepe...

Optical emission spectroscopy as a diagnostic for plasmas in liquids: opportunities and pitfalls

In this contribution, optical emission spectroscopy is evaluated and thoroughly analysed as a diagnostic to characterize plasmas in and in contact with liquids. One of the specific properties of plasmas in and in contact with liquids is the strong emission of OH(A?X) and of hydrogen lines. As an example a 600?ns pulsed dc excited discharge in Ar, He and O2 bubbles in water is investigated by time resolved optical emission spectroscopy. It is shown that the production processes of excited species and the plasma kinetics strongly influence the emission spectrum. This complicates the interpretation of the spectra but provides the opportunity to derive production mechanisms from the time resolved emission. The importance of recombination processes compared with direct electron excitation processes in the production of excited states of the water fragments in plasmas with high electron densities is shown. The OH(A?X) emission spectrum illustrates that even in these highly collisional atmospheric pressure discharges the rotational population distribution deviates from equilibrium. A two-temperature fit of the OH rotational population distribution leads to realistic gas temperatures for the temperature parameter corresponding to small rotational numbers. The H? and H? lines are fitted with two component profiles corresponding to two different electron densities. The obtained electron density is in the range 1021?1023?m?3. Possible complications in the interpretation of obtained temperatures and electron densities are discussed.

Electronic quenching of OH(A) by water in atmospheric pressure plasmas and its influence on the gas temperature determination by OH(A–X) emission

In this paper it is shown that electronic quenching of OH(A) by water prevents thermalization of the rotational population distribution of OH(A). This means that the observed ro-vibrational OH(A?X) emission band is (at least partially) an image of the formation process and is determined not only by the gas temperature. The formation of negative ions and clusters for larger water concentrations can contribute to the non-equilibrium. The above is demonstrated in RF excited atmospheric pressure glow discharges in He?water mixtures in a parallel metal plate reactor by optical emission spectroscopy. For this particular case a significant overpopulation of high rotational states appears around 1000?ppm H2O in He. The smallest temperature parameter of a non-Boltzmann (two-temperature) distribution fitted to the experimental spectrum of OH(A?X) gives a good representation of the gas temperature. Only the rotational states with the smallest rotational numbers (J ? 7) are thermalized and representative for the gas temperature.

Hydrogenated amorphous silicon deposited at very high growth rates by an expanding Ar–H2–SiH4 plasma

The properties of hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) deposited at very high growth rates (6–80 nm/s) by means of a remote Ar–H2–SiH4 plasma have been investigated as a function of the H2 flow in the Ar–H2 operated plasma source. Both the structural and optoelectronic properties of the films improve with increasing H2 flow, and a-Si:H suitable for the application in solar cells has been obtained at deposition rates of 10 nm/s for high H2 flows and a substrate temperature of 400 °C. The “optimized” material has a hole drift mobility which is about a factor of 10 higher than for standard a-Si:H. The electron drift mobility, however, is slightly lower than for standard a-Si:H. Furthermore, preliminary results on solar cells with intrinsic a-Si:H deposited at 7 nm/s are presented. Relating the film properties to the SiH4 dissociation reactions reveals that optimum film quality is obtained for conditions where H from the plasma source governs SiH4 dissociation and where SiH3 contributes dominantly to film ...

Optical and mechanical properties of plasma‐beam‐deposited amorphous hydrogenated carbon

Amorphous hydrogenated carbon films have been deposited on crystalline silicon and on glass from an expanding thermal plasma. Two deposition parameters have been varied: the electric current through the plasma source and the admixed acetylene flow. No energetic ion bombardment has been applied during deposition. Ex situ analysis of the films yields the infrared refractive index, hardness, Young’s modulus, optical band gap, bonded hydrogen content, and the total hydrogen and mass density. The infrared refractive index describes the film properties independent of which plasma deposition parameter ~arc current or acetylene flow ! has been varied. The hardness, Young’s modulus, sp 2 / sp 3 ratio, and mass density increase with increasing refractive index. The optical band gap and hydrogen content of the films decrease with increasing refractive index. It is demonstrated that plasma-beam-deposited diamondlike a-C:H has similar properties as material deposited with conventional plasma-enhanced chemical-vapor-depositions techniques under energetic ion bombardment.