Mass spectrometry of active species convected from a one atmosphere uniform glow discharge plasma (OAUGDP) in air

Summary form only given, as follows. The one atmosphere uniform glow discharge plasma (OAUGDP) is capable of operating at one atmosphere in air and other gases, and its active species can be used for the plasma treatment of surfaces. The OAUGDP can he operated in a wide range of geometrical configurations, ranging from a slab plasma between parallel plates, to a plasma layer which can cover an isolated flat or curved surface. The remote exposure reactor (RER) utilizes multiple flat panels covered with a surface layer of OAUGD plasma to generate active species from air, which have been convected distances of 20 cm or more downstream of the last plasma. These active species are capable of sterilizing the surface of materials. Our investigations have shown that the energizing voltage, the RF frequency, the RF power input, the number of panels generating the surface layers of the OAUGDP, and the distance active species are convected from the plasma panels to the workpiece all affect the killing times of microorganisms and other plasma processing effects. The relative concentration of active species in the efflux of the remote exposure reactor is determined by mass spectrometry and reported as a function of the above plasma parameters and the distance from the last plasma generating panel. Such information will be correlated with plasma sterilization data from the RER to learn more about the agents responsible for sterilization.