Plasma stability control using dielectric barriers in radio-frequency atmospheric pressure glow discharges

It is widely accepted that electrode insulation is unnecessary for generating radio-frequency (rf) atmospheric pressure glow discharges (APGDs). It is also known that rf APGDs with large discharge current are susceptible to the glow-to-arc transition. In this letter, a computational study is presented to demonstrate that dielectric barriers provide an effective control over unlimited current growth and allow rf APGDs to be operated at very high current densities with little danger of the glow-to-arc transition. Characteristics of electrode sheaths are used to show that the stability control is achieved by forcing the plasma-containing electrode unit to acquire positive differential conductivity

Electron avalanches and diffused γ-mode in radio-frequency capacitively coupled atmospheric-pressure microplasmas

Space-, time- and wavelength-resolved optical emission profiles suggest that the helium emission at 706 nm can be used to indicate the presence of high energy electrons and estimate the sheath in helium rf discharges containing small concentration of air impurities. Furthermore, the experimental data supports the theoretical predictions of energetic electron avalanches transiting across the discharge gap in rf microdischarges and the absence of an α-mode. Nonetheless, microdischarges sustained between bare metal electrodes and operating in the γ-mode can produce diffuse glowlike discharges rather than the typical radially constricted plasmas observed in millimeter-size rf atmospheric-pressure γ discharges

Electron heating in radio-frequency capacitively coupled atmospheric-pressure plasmas

In atmospheric-pressure plasmas the main electron heating mechanism is Ohmic heating, which has distinct spatial and temporal evolutions in the α and γ modes. In γ discharges, ionizing avalanches in the sheaths are initiated not only by secondary electrons but also by metastable pooling reactions. In α discharges, heating takes place at the sheath edges and in contrast with low-pressure plasmas, close to 50% of the power absorbed by the electrons is absorbed at the edge of the retreating sheaths. This heating is due to a field enhancement caused by the large collisionality in atmospheric-pressure discharges

Effects of dielectric barriers in radio-frequency atmospheric glow discharges

This paper reports the effects of introducing dielectric barriers to radio-frequency (RF) atmospheric pressure glow discharges (APGD) that have hitherto employed bare electrodes. The resulting atmospheric RF dielectric barrier discharges (DBD) are experimentally shown to retain their large volume without constriction at very large currents, well above the maximum current at which conventional RF APGD with bare electrodes can maintain their plasma stability. Optical emission spectroscopy is used to demonstrate that larger discharge currents lead to more active plasma chemistry. A complementary computational study is then presented on the dynamics and structures of the RF DBD under different operation conditions. While the RF DBD and conventional RF APGD may present very different electrical signatures in the external circuit, it is shown that their discharge properties, particularly the sheath characteristics, are very similar. Finally, it is demonstrated that thinner dielectric barriers or/and larger excitation frequencies are desirable to maximize the largest permissible discharge current without compromising the plasma stability

Classical confinement of test particles in higher-dimensional models: stability criteria and a new energy condition

We review the circumstances under which test particles can be localized around a spacetime section \Sigma_0 smoothly contained within a codimension-1 embedding space M. If such a confinement is possible, \Sigma_0 is said to be totally geodesic. Using three different methods, we derive a stability condition for trapped test particles in terms of intrinsic geometrical quantities on \Sigma_0 and M; namely, confined paths are stable against perturbations if the gravitational stress-energy density on M is larger than that on \Sigma_0, as measured by an observed travelling along the unperturbed trajectory. We confirm our general result explicitly in two different cases: the warped-product metric ansatz for (n+1)-dimensional Einstein spaces, and a known solution of the 5-dimensional vacuum field equation embedding certain 4-dimensional cosmologies. We conclude by defining a confinement energy condition that can be used to classify geometries incorporating totally geodesic submanifolds, such as those found in thick braneworld and other 5-dimensional scenarios.Comment: 9 pages, REVTeX4, in press in Phys. Rev.

A Combining Forecasting Modeling and Its Application

Part 5: Modelling and SimulationInternational audienceThe supply chain coordination has abstracted more and more attention from industries and academics. This paper studies a Bayesian combination forecasting model to integrate multiple forecasting resources and coordinate forecasting process among partners in retail supply chain. The simulation results based on the retail sales data show the effectiveness of this Bayesian combination forecasting model to coordinate the collaborative forecasting process. This Bayesian combination forecasting model can improve demand forecasting accuracy of supply chain

The effect of applied electric field on pulsed radio frequency and pulsed direct current plasma jet array

Here we compare the plasma plume propagation characteristics of a 3-channel pulsed RF plasma jet array and those of the same device operated by a pulsed dc source. For the pulsed-RF jet array, numerous long life time ions and metastables accumulated in the plasma channel make the plasma plume respond quickly to applied electric field. Its structure similar as “plasma bullet” is an anode glow indeed. For the pulsed dcplasma jet array, the strong electric field in the vicinity of the tube is the reason for the growing plasma bullet in the launching period. The repulsive forces between the growing plasma bullets result in the divergence of the pulsed dcplasma jet array. Finally, the comparison of 309 nm and 777 nm emissions between these two jet arrays suggests the high chemical activity of pulsed RF plasma jet array

Comparative Study on Magnetic Properties and Microstructure of As-prepared and Alternating Current Joule Annealed Wires

AbstractX-ray diffraction (XRD), high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM), magnetic measurement including impedance measurement were used for investigating the microstructure and magnetic properties of as-prepared and alternating current Joule annealed (ACJA) Co-rich amorphous microwires for potential sensor applications. Experimental results indicated that as-cast and ACJA wires both were amorphous characteristic, while ACJA wire has an enhanced local ordering degree of atom arrangement. There was a transform of magnetic properties after ACJA treatment, namely increasing coercivity, maximum magnetic permeability and saturation magnetization, resulting from the coactions of magnetic anisotropy and magnetic moment exchange coupling. Moreover, ACJA treatment can drastically improve the GMI property of melt-extracted wires. At 5MHz, the maximum GMI ratio [ΔZ/Z0]max of ACJA wire increases to 205.93%, which is nearly 4.1 times of 50.62% for as-cast wire, and the field response sensitivity ξmax of ACJA wire increases to 463.70%/Oe by more than 2 times of 212.15%/Oe for as-cast wire. From sensor application perspective, the sensor applied frequency range (SAFR) of ACJA wire is 3MHz-7MHz (the better working frequency is at 5MHz). It can therefore be concluded that the ACJA wire (60mA, 480s, 50Hz) has better GMI and magnetic properties, is more suitable for potential magnetic sensor applications working at low-frequency and relatively high-working-magnetic field