An Atmospheric Pressure Nonequilibrium Plasma Jet Device

In this paper, a specially designed atmospheric pressure nonequilibrium plasma jet device is reported. The device is a modified dielectric barrier discharge. It is capable of generating a plasma plume that is up to 10 cm long in the surrounding air. Using helium as the operating gas, the plume can be touched by bare hands without causing harm. There is no risk of arcing with this device. The gas temperature of the plume is close to room temperature. Therefore, this device may be used for applications such as the decontamination of temperature-sensitive materials, surface modification, teeth cleaning, etching, etc.