Characteristics of Microwave Plasma Torch at Atmospheric Pressure

Author

Zhang, Qing ; Zhang, Guixin ; Wang, Shumin ; Wang, Liming ; Huo, Na

Author_Institution

Dept. of Electr. Eng., Tsinghua Univ., Beijing, China

Volume

38

Issue

11

fYear

2010

Firstpage

3197

Lastpage

3200

Abstract

We studied the characteristics of a microwave argon plasma torch at atmospheric pressure. The electron temperature of the plasma was measured by optical-emission spectroscopy and increases nonlinearly from 3000 to 3800 K with the increase of the microwave power from 1.0 to 4.0 kW. The spatial distribution of the electron density was measured with a Mach-Zehnder interferometer to be on the order of 10¹⁷/cm³ and characterized by fluctuating with the time under the same experimental conditions. Based on the plasma parameters measured, it can be concluded that the plasma is in the state of local thermodynamic equilibrium.

Keywords

argon; plasma density; plasma diagnostics; plasma temperature; plasma thermodynamics; plasma torches; Ar; Mach-Zehnder interferometer; atmospheric pressure; electron density spatial distribution; electron temperature; local thermodynamic equilibrium state; microwave argon plasma torch; optical-emission spectroscopy; plasma parameters; power 1.0 kW to 4.0 kW; pressure 1 atm; temperature 3000 K to 3800 K; Argon; Atmospheric measurements; Microwave measurements; Plasma measurements; Plasma temperature; Temperature measurement; Atmospheric pressure; local thermodynamic equilibrium (LTE); microwave plasma;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Plasma Science, IEEE Transactions on

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0093-3813

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/TPS.2010.2068062

Filename

5598536