Operation Characteristics and Optical Emission Distribution of a Miniaturized Silicon Through-Substrate Split-Ring Resonator Microplasma Source

There are many new microplasma sources being developed for a wide variety of applications, each with different properties tailored to its specific use. Microplasma sources enable portable instruments for, e.g., chemical analysis, sterilization, or activation of substances. A novel microplasma source, based on a microstrip split-ring resonator design with electrodes integrated in its silicon substrate, was designed, manufactured, and evaluated. This device has a plasma discharge gap with a controlled volume and geometry, and offers straightforward integration with other microelectromechancial systems (MEMS) components, e.g., microfluidics. The realized device was resonant at around 2.9 GHz with a quality factor of 18.7. Two different operational modes were observed with the plasma at high pressure being confined in the gap between the electrodes, whereas the plasma at low pressures appeared between the ends of the electrodes on the backside. Measurement of the angular distribution of light emitted from the device with through-substrate electrodes showed narrow emission lobes compared with a reference plasma source with on-substrate electrodes.