Mass Spectrometry Of Atmospheric Pressure Surface Wave Discharges

By applying mass spectrometry techniques, we carried out measurements of ionic mass spectrum and their energy distribution in order to investigate an atmospheric argon discharge by using a surfatron surface-wave device. The mass and energy distribution measurements were performed with fixed flow rate (2.5 SLM) of pure argon gas (99,999%) and different Ar-O-2 gas mixture compositions (99-1, 98-2 and 97-3). The mass spectra and energy distributions were recorded for Ar+, O+, O-2(+), N+ and N-2(+). The axial distribution profiles of ionic mass and their energy were obtained for different experimental conditions as a function of the plasma length. The results showed that the peak of the positive ion energy distributions shifted to higher energies and also that the distribution width increased as the distance between the sampling orifice and the launcher gap was increased. It was also found that under certain experimental conditions the ion flux of atomic species were higher than the ion flux of their diatomic counterpart. The motivation of this study was to obtain a better understanding of a surface wave discharge in atmospheric pressure that may play a key role on new second generation biofuel technologies.7155th International Workshop and Summer School on Plasma Physics (IWSSPP)JUN 25-30, 2012Kiten, BULGARI

Integral elastic, electronic-state, ionization, and total cross sections for electron scattering with furfural

We report absolute experimental integral cross sections (ICSs) for electron impact excitation of bands of electronic-states in furfural, for incident electron energies in the range 20-250 eV. Wherever possible, those results are compared to corresponding excitation cross sections in the structurally similar species furan, as previously reported by da Costa et al. [Phys. Rev. A 85, 062706 (2012)] and Regeta and Allan [Phys. Rev. A 91, 012707 (2015)]. Generally, very good agreement is found. In addition, ICSs calculated with our independent atom model (IAM) with screening corrected additivity rule (SCAR) formalism, extended to account for interference (I) terms that arise due to the multi-centre nature of the scattering problem, are also reported. The sum of those ICSs gives the IAM-SCAR+I total cross section for electron-furfural scattering. Where possible, those calculated IAM-SCAR+I ICS results are compared against corresponding results from the present measurements with an acceptable level of accord being obtained. Similarly, but only for the band I and band II excited electronic states, we also present results from our Schwinger multichannel method with pseudopotentials calculations. Those results are found to be in good qualitative accord with the present experimental ICSs. Finally, with a view to assembling a complete cross section data base for furfural, some binary-encounter-Bethe-level total ionization cross sections for this collision system are presented. (C) 2016 AIP Publishing LLC

Science CONOPS for Application of SPORT Mission Data to Study Large (~1000km) Ionospheric Plasma Depletions

The Scintillation Prediction Observations Research Task (SPORT) mission is a single 6U CubeSat space weather satellite planned for an October 2022 launch into an ISS-like orbit. The primary purpose of the SPORT mission is to determine the longitudinal effects on equatorial plasma bubble (EPB) growth resulting from the offset dipole magnetic field of the Earth. By combining field and plasma measurements from SPORT with other low-altitude (i.e., alt \u3c 1000 km) spacecraft, it is possible to investigate large-scale (\u3e 1000 km) EPB structures. The types of investigation made possible by measurements from SPORT and other contemporaneous missions include 1) dynamics of depleted magnetic flux tubes; 2) dynamics of field-aligned EPB expansion versus propagation speed; 3) EPB vertical extent; and 4) EPB temporal evolution. To support these investigation types, the respective modes of conjunctions are: 1) simultaneous intersection of a magnetic flux tube; 2) intersection of magnetic flux tube separated in time; 3) Simultaneous Latitude/Longitude position conjunction; and 4) Non-simultaneous latitude/longitude position conjunction. This paper will summarize the SPORT satellite and data used for Science CONOPS to accomplish these objectives