Plasma Decay in the Afterglow of High-Voltage Nanosecond Discharges in Unsaturated and Oxygenated Hydrocarbons
- Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology (Russian Federation)
- Troitsk Institute for Innovation and Fusion Research (Russian Federation)
- Princeton University (United States)
Results of experimental and theoretical study of plasma decay in the afterglow of high-voltage nanosecond discharges in gaseous ethylene and dimethyl ether at room temperature and pressures from 2 to 20 Torr are presented. Using a microwave interferometer, the time behavior of the electron density in the range from 2 × 10{sup 10} to 3 × 10{sup 12} cm{sup –3} during plasma decay is investigated. By processing the experimental data, the effective coefficients of electron–ion recombination as functions of the gas pressure are obtained. It is found that these coefficients substantially exceed the recombination coefficients of simple hydrocarbon ions. This distinction, as well as the increase in the effective recombination coefficient with pressure, is explained by the formation of cluster ions in three-body collisions, which recombine with electrons more efficiently than simple molecular ions. The coefficients of three-body conversion of simple molecular ions into cluster ions in the plasmas of ethylene and dimethyl ether, as well as the coefficients of recombination of electrons with cluster ions in these gases, are determined by analyzing the experimental data.
- OSTI ID:
- 22760270
- Journal Information:
- Plasma Physics Reports, Vol. 43, Issue 12; Other Information: Copyright (c) 2017 Pleiades Publishing, Ltd.; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 1063-780X
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Similar Records
Plasma decay in hydrocarbons and hydrocarbon- and H2O-containing mixtures excited by high-voltage nanosecond discharge at elevated gas temperatures
Repetitively pulsed nanosecond discharge plasma decay in propane–oxygen gas mixture in the presence of a heating electric field