A Line Array of Microplasma Devices With Coplanar Electrodes Operating in Argon

A line array of microplasma devices with coplanar electrodes has been fabricated, and the discharge characteristics of the microplasma devices under different argon pressures were investigated in experiments which were driven by sinusoidal voltage and alternating pulse voltage, respectively. The microcavities of the proposed device are composed of two coplanar electrodes instead of dielectric or single cathode. The voltage-current characteristics of the device driven by sinusoidal voltage show that the power loading of each microcavity could reach several kilowatts per cubic centimeter. Driven by alternating pulse voltage, the device performed a trend that the discharge current grows up first and then goes down gradually with the increase of operation pressure. Moreover, with the increase of driven frequency, the device operated with high discharge stability on both time and intensity. The proposed device possesses the advantages of simple structure and simple fabrication processes.