Compact surface wave launchers and their matching network for sustaining plasma columns at radio frequencies

Summary form only given, as follows. The surface-wave-produced plasma, a discharge that operates in the RF range, is advantageous for some applications. Surface-wave-plasma technology has developed mainly around the surfatron launcher. This device is very efficient (reflected power approximately=0%), but it remains really compact (axial length <15 cm) only at frequencies exceeding 500 MHz; at 13 MHz, it would typically be 5 m long. To circumvent this problem, the authors have proposed the Ro-box launcher, a device that has its launching gap separated from the matching network, in contrast to the surfatron. For frequencies in the range 200-2450 MHz, the impedance matching is provided by a capacitive coupler (as with the surfatron) and a coaxial tuning stub. In this so-called stub configuration, the Ro-box works as well as a surfatron but is more compact. For frequencies in the range 200 kHz to 200 MHz, distributed L and C impedance components are used.<>