Gérard Bauville

Analysis of the self-pulsing operating mode of a microdischarge

The self?pulsing regime of a microhollow cathode discharge in argon is reported. The plasma is generated inside the hole drilled in an anode?dielectric?cathode device. The hole dimension ranges from 200 to 400??m and the gas pressure ranges from 40 to 200?Torr. It is shown by optical spectroscopy and fast CCD imaging that the current pulse is related to a fast expansion of the plasma outside the microhole on the cathode backside. The pulse current duration ranges from 0.4 to 2??s depending on the gas pressure. The self-pulsing regime occurs at medium current range (0.1?1?mA). At lower current the discharge is steady and the plasma is confined inside the hole (abnormal regime); at higher current, the plasma is steady and the plasma expands outside the hole on the cathode backside. The self-pulsing frequency is a linear function of the averaged discharge current and decreases with the device capacitance. The dependence of the self-pulsing characteristics (frequency, light emission, power deposition, etc) on the gas pressure follows a Paschen-like law; this is interpreted in considering that the fast expansion of the plasma outside the hole is similar to a gas breakdown. A simple electrical model, using a bistable voltage-controlled variable resistor to simulate the evolution of the plasma impedance, provides qualitative results in good agreement with the experiments.

Dynamics of colliding microplasma jets

Because of their capabilities to generate plasmas that are not confined between electrodes, low-temperature plasma jets offer unique opportunities for applications such as material processing and biomedicine. The need to generate multiple jets in order to cover larger treatment areas has recently become desirable. However, the interaction between neighbouring jets is unavoidable. It is therefore crucial to elucidate the physical processes that occur between jets. In this paper we present the case of two counter-propagating jets generated by two DBD-based devices. We show that the plasma bullets emitted by the two jets interact with each other as soon as they leave their respective DBD device, resulting in a decrease in their velocities. The bullets do not actually meet but rather approach each other at a minimum approach distance. The location of the region of minimum approach is not midway between the nozzles of the jet devices but rather depends on the operating conditions. In addition, we discovered the emergence of a ?secondary? discharge exactly in the region of minimum approach. This discharge exhibits a pink glow, reminiscent of the pink afterglow occurring in some nitrogen discharges. Time-resolved spectroscopic measurements and current measurement analysis showed that the pink glow is a transient negative glow discharge that cannot be attributed to kinetic processes associated with re-excitation of nitrogen molecules. It is rather ignited by electrons accelerated from both jets towards the region of minimum approach. This process is found to be exactly timed with the measured current reversal.

Synergistic Effect of H2O2 and NO2 in Cell Death Induced by Cold Atmospheric He Plasma.

Cold atmospheric pressure plasmas (CAPPs) have emerged over the last decade as a new promising therapy to fight cancer. CAPPs’ antitumor activity is primarily due to the delivery of reactive oxygen and nitrogen species (RONS), but the precise determination of the constituents linked to this anticancer process remains to be done. In the present study, using a micro-plasma jet produced in helium (He), we demonstrate that the concentration of H2O2, NO2− and NO3− can fully account for the majority of RONS produced in plasma-activated buffer. The role of these species on the viability of normal and tumour cell lines was investigated. Although the degree of sensitivity to H2O2 is cell-type dependent, we show that H2O2 alone cannot account for the toxicity of He plasma. Indeed, NO2−, but not NO3−, acts in synergy with H2O2 to enhance cell death in normal and tumour cell lines to a level similar to that observed after plasma treatment. Our findings suggest that the efficiency of plasma treatment strongly depends on the combination of H2O2 and NO2− in determined concentrations. We also show that the interaction of the He plasma jet with the ambient air is required to generate NO2− and NO3− in solution.

DNA oxidation by singlet delta oxygen produced by atmospheric pressure microdischarges

Arrays of microcathode sustained discharges were developed for the production of singlet delta oxygen (SDO) at atmospheric pressure. SDO densities higher than 3.5×1016 cm−3 have been efficiently produced and transported over distances longer than 50 cm. These arrays appear to be an ideal tool for examining the reactivity of SDO with biological components. Experiments were performed indicating that SDO is able to oxidize 2′-deoxyguanosine, a DNA constituent. It is shown that the 4-OH-8-oxodGuo formation is proportional to the number of SDO molecules while other reactive species could also be involved in the production of the nucleosides dSp and dZ.

O2(aΔ1g) production at atmospheric pressure by microdischarge

We report experimental results showing that singlet oxygen O2(aΔ1g) can be efficiently produced at atmospheric pressure in a three-electrode microcathode sustained discharge (MCSD) configuration. This configuration consists of a microhollow cathode discharge (MHCD) acting as a plasma cathode to sustain a stable glow discharge between the MHCD and a third planar electrode placed at a distance of 8 mm. Experiments were performed in He/O2/NO mixtures. O2(aΔ1g) number densities higher than 1016 cm−3 were measured in the MCSD afterglow at total flow rates up to 30 ln/mn, resulting in O2(aΔ1g) fluxes above 10 millimole per hour (mmol/h).

Singlet oxygen production in a microcathode sustained discharge

The authors report experimental results showing that high yields of singlet oxygen O2(aΔg1) can be generated in a three-electrode microcathode sustained discharge (MCSD) configuration. This configuration consists of a microhollow cathode discharge (MHCD) acting as a plasma cathode to sustain a stable glow discharge between the MHCD and a third, planar electrode placed at a distance of 8mm. Experiments were performed in pure oxygen and in mixtures of oxygen with rare gases (He or Ar) at pressures up to 130Torr. O2(aΔg1) relative yields of 7.6% were measured 23cm downstream in the afterglow of the MCSD discharge.

Arrays of microplasmas for the controlled production of tunable high fluxes of reactive oxygen species at atmospheric pressure

The atmospheric-pressure generation of singlet delta oxygen (O2(a 1Δg)) by microplasmas was experimentally studied. The remarkable stability of microcathode sustained discharges (MCSDs) allowed the operation of dc glow discharges, free from the glow-to-arc transition, in He/O2/NO mixtures at atmospheric pressure. From optical diagnostics measurements we deduced the yield of O2(a 1Δg). By operating arrays of several MCSDs in series, O2(a 1Δg) densities higher than 1.0 × 1017 cm−3 were efficiently produced and transported over distances longer than 50 cm, corresponding to O2(a 1Δg) partial pressures and production yields greater than 5 mbar and 6%, respectively. At such high O2(a 1Δg) densities, the fluorescence of the so-called O2(a 1Δg) dimol was observed as a red glow at 634 nm up to 1 m downstream. Parallel operation of arrays of MCSDs was also implemented, generating O2(a 1Δg) fluxes as high as 100 mmol h−1. In addition, ozone (O3) densities up to 1016 cm−3 were obtained. Finally, the density ratio of O2(a 1Δg) to O3 was finely and easily tuned in the range [10−3–10+5], through the values of the discharge current and NO concentration. This opens up opportunities for a large spectrum of new applications, making this plasma source notably very useful for biomedicine.

Study of recovery phenomena in a high-current pulse-triggered vacuum switch

The recovery capacities of a triggered vacuum switch after the crossing of a 25- mu s high-current pulse were investigated. The recovery time is less than 100 mu s. An experiment was conducted with several electrodes with different gaps, and the influence of an axial magnetic field on the switch was studied. A diffuse arc mode was achieved, making possible a commutation power as high as 10/sup 9/ VA. >

Microplasmas as vacuum ultraviolet source for Cl-atom density measurements by resonance absorption spectroscopy

A micro-hollow cathode discharge was used to generate radiation on the chlorine atom resonance lines. Such radiation could be used to measure, by resonance absorption spectroscopy, the density of chlorine atoms in either ground state (3p5 2P3/2) or in the fine structure metastable state (3p5 2P1/2), which is located at 882.35?cm?1. Among the nine analysed lines in the 132?142?nm spectral region, only those at 137.953 and 139.653?nm, which are strong enough and are not affected by the self-absorption, can be used for the resonance absorption diagnostic of the ground state and the metastable state, respectively. The best operating conditions of the lamp source are 0.5% of Cl2 in argon at 150?mbar and 4?mA discharge current. The measured 800 ? 30?K gas temperature of the microplasma, indicates that under these specific conditions, these two lines are dominantly Doppler broadened. So their profile is Gaussian shaped with full widths at half maximum of (4.7 ? 0.1) ? 10?4?nm.

Space-time resolved density of helium metastable atoms in a nanosecond pulsed plasma jet: influence of high voltage and pulse frequency

Using tunable diode laser absorption spectroscopy, the spatio-temporal distributions of the helium He(23 S1) metastable atoms’ density were measured in a plasma jet propagating in ambient air. The plasma jet was produced by applying short duration high voltage pulses on the electrodes of a DBD-like structure, at a repetition rate in the range 1–30 kHz. In addition to the metastable density, the spatial distribution of helium 587 nm emission intensity was also investigated to give insight into the excitation mechanisms of the He(33 D) excited state inside the dielectric tube, in which no laser measurement can be performed. It is demonstrated that the shape of the radial distribution of helium He(23 S1) metastable atoms strongly depends on the polarity of the applied voltage and on the repetition frequency. For positive applied voltages, a dramatic constriction of the excited species production is observed whenever the pulse repetition frequency is higher than 6 kHz, and the voltage higher than 5 kV. This shrinking of the jet structure induces an increase by one order of magnitude of the metastable atoms’ density in the jet centre which reaches values as high as 1014 cm−3. Beyond a critical distance, associated to a transition between a positive streamer and a negative one, the distribution of the excited atoms gets back to an annular structure. For the negative polarity, no shrinking effect correlated to the pulse repetition frequency was observed. The on-axis constriction of the excited species for the high repetition rate and positive polarity is attributed to a memory effect induced by the negative ions, having a lifetime of hundreds of microseconds, left between successive pulses at the periphery of the helium gas flow.