Pulsed microwave discharge in gas mixtures N/sub 2//O/sub 2//NO: experimental study and modeling

Summary form only given. The discharge chamber is operated at a mode with a resonance frequency near 2.46 GHz. The microwave field in the cavity is sufficient for breakdown at atmospheric pressure. The plasma burns in a quartz tube supported inside the microwave cavity. A commercial magnetron of the type Toshiba 2M137 is driven by a pulsed power supply to obtain pulse durations of several microseconds up to 200 /spl mu/s and repetition rates up to 100 kHz. The peak microwave power is 3.6 kW. The purpose of the work is to study the production/reduction of NO/sub x/ components by means of a pulsed microwave discharge. The discharge is operated in N/sub 2//O/sub 2//NO mixtures at flow rates of 15-30 standard liter per minute. Contrary to CW operated microwave discharges, pulsed systems show strong non-thermal behavior. Gas temperatures of 500-1000 K and vibrational temperatures of about 1000 K are observed. The mean electron temperature is about 1-2 eV.