Atmospheric Pressure Plasma Jets Treating Dielectric Surfaces with Step Barriers

• Published in: 2023 IEEE International Conference on Plasma Science (ICOPS) p. 1
• Main Authors: Konina, K., Morsell, J., Shannon, S. C., Kushner, M. J.
• Format: Conference Proceeding
• Language: English
• Published: IEEE 21-05-2023
• Subjects: Atmospheric modeling; Dielectrics; Plasma jets; Solids; Surface charging; Surface waves; Topology
• ISSN: 2576-7208
• DOI: 10.1109/ICOPS45740.2023.10481094

Atmospheric pressure plasmas intersecting with dielectric surfaces typically evolve into a surface ionization wave (SIW). The SIW results from charging of the surface which produces parallel components of the electric field and electric field enhancement at the surface of a high permittivity solid. Atmospheric pressure plasma jets (APPJs), typically sustained in rare gas mixtures into ambient air, incident onto dielectric surfaces evolve into SIWs with the added complication of gas dynamics influencing the properties of the SIW. As the plasma propagates along the surface, the SIW is able follow the topology of the surface, for example, over steps by charging the surface producing electric field components parallel to the vertical faces. In this work, results from a computational investigation of an APPJ sustained in helium incident onto a dielectric surface with steps and the propagation of the resulting SIW will be discussed. The angle of the APPJ with respect to the normal was varied from 0 to 45 degrees. Step-like barriers of a few 100s μm to a few mm in height were investigated. The modeling platform used in this investigation is the 2-D plasma hydrodynamics model nonPDPSIM [1]. Comparisons are made to experimental framing camera images of APPJ produced SIWs along dielectric surfaces having steps.