Production of Plasma Jet Based on High-Current Pseudo-Spark Discharge

Abstract

A plasma jet based on a high-current pseudo-spark discharge has been developed. A pseudo-spark discharge (PSD) is a high-current glow-like discharge, which is formed on the left side of the minimum of the Paschen curve. Although the discharge current exceeds several tens of kiloamperes, the discharge retains the glow mode because of the hollow cathode effect. The PSD is formed with a large number of arc channels, which are usually narrow. Consequently, the PSD has a large cross section. In this study, the PSD anode has a hole with a larger diameter than that of the cathode in order to generate a plasma jet. The plasma is effectively accelerated by the electromagnetic force due to the modified shape of electrodes. The electron temperature and density of the plasma jet were measured by a double probe technique. At the discharge current of 10 kA, the temperature of the plasma jet reached approximately 1.9 eV and the density was of the order of 1014 cm-3 at the distance of 72 mm from the anode.

Design and preliminary experiment of radial sheet beam terahertz source based on radial pseudospark discharge

“…Background plasma has not been considered in the simulation yet, so the real output power of the device will be much less than the simulation results. The reported experimental measurement [15] and simulation results [3] indicate that the pseudospark discharge plasma density is in around 6.5×10 19 m −3 , and the corresponding plasma frequency of about 72 GHz, which is apparently lower than 0.22 THz. Accordingly, the relative permittivity of the background plasma, e = -( ) / f f 1 , p 2 is smaller and close to 1.…”

Generation of broadband terahertz radiation using a backward wave oscillator and pseudospark-sourced electron beam

“…18,19 Stable propagation of the electron beam, which happens during the pseudospark discharge process, requires a plasma density of approximately 6:5 Â 10 19 m À3 under the discharge conditions of the experiment. The electron beam will not propagate stably in a higher plasma density and becomes defocused in a lower value.…”

Minimum breakdown parameters through H2, He, N2 and Ar gases

“…Thus, the investigation of the breakdown processes is very necessary to enhance the microwave efficiency which is the aim of the present work. The breakdown is studied through a pseudo discharge at various inter-electrode distances using different anode transparencies [13,14]. The breakdown over a small gap for different distances and different gases was investigated [15].…”