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Title: Numerical studies of independent control of electron density and gas temperature via nonlinear coupling in dual-frequency atmospheric pressure dielectric barrier discharge plasmas

Journal Article · · Physics of Plasmas
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4954647· OSTI ID:22600074
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  1. School of Electrical Engineering and Automation, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin, Heilongjiang 150001 (China)

Dielectric barrier discharges (DBDs) provide a promising technology of generating non-equilibrium cold plasmas in atmospheric pressure gases. For both application-focused and fundamental studies, it is important to explore the strategy and the mechanism for enabling effective independent tuning of key plasma parameters in a DBD system. In this paper, we report numerical studies of effects of dual-frequency excitation on atmospheric DBDs, and modulation as well as separate tuning mechanism, with emphasis on dual-frequency coupling to the key plasma parameters and discharge evolution. With an appropriately applied low frequency to the original high frequency, the numerical calculation demonstrates that a strong nonlinear coupling between two frequencies governs the process of ionization and energy deposition into plasma, and thus raises the electron density significantly (e.g., three times in this case) in comparisons with a single frequency driven DBD system. Nevertheless, the gas temperature, which is mainly determined by the high frequency discharge, barely changes. This method then enables a possible approach of controlling both averaged electron density and gas temperature independently.

OSTI ID:
22600074
Journal Information:
Physics of Plasmas, Vol. 23, Issue 7; Other Information: (c) 2016 Author(s); Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 1070-664X
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English