An official website of the United States government
Abstract This study delves into the dynamics of cold atmospheric plasma and their interaction within conductive solutions under the unique conditions of nanosecond pulsed discharges (22 kV peak voltage, 10 ns FWHM, 4.5 kV ns−1rate-of-rise). The research focuses on the electrical response, breakdown, and discharge propagation in an argon bubble, submerged in a NaCl solution of varying conductivity. Full or partial discharges were observed at conductivities of 1.5µS cm−1(deionized water) to 1.6 mS cm−1, but no breakdown was observed at 11.0 mS cm−1when reducing the electrode gap. It is demonstrated that at higher conductivity electric breakdown is observed only when the gas bubble comes into direct contact with the electrode and multiple emission nodes were observed at different timescales. These nodes expanded in the central region of the bubble over timescales longer than the initial high-voltage pulse. This work offers a temporal resolution of 2 ns exposure times over the first 30 ns of the initial voltage pulse, and insight into plasma formation over decaying reflected voltage oscillations over 200 ns.
more »
« less
Electric discharge initiation in water with gas bubbles: A time scale approach
High voltage nanosecond pulse driven electric discharges in de-ionized water with an argon bubble suspended between two electrodes were experimentally investigated. Two electrode configurations were used to temporally resolve the time scales of the discharge from the applied voltage rise time (7 ns), through the end of the first pulse ([Formula: see text]30 ns), and longer (>50 ns). We found that, in positive and negative applied voltage polarities, discharge initiates in the water at the tip of the anode. The discharge in the water rapidly extends ([Formula: see text] m/s) to the apex of the bubble and light emitted from inside the bubble begins to form. The steep rate of rise of the applied voltage ([Formula: see text] kV/ns) and the short time for the development of discharge in the water suggest that cavitation is a likely mechanism for discharge initiation and propagation in water. In addition, the short duration of the applied voltage pulse results in only a partial Townsend discharge inside the bubble.
more »
« less
- Award ID(s):
- 2107901
- PAR ID:
- 10396359
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Journal of Vacuum Science & Technology A
- Volume:
- 40
- Issue:
- 6
- ISSN:
- 0734-2101
- Page Range / eLocation ID:
- 063002
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
More Like this
-
-
Abstract Streamers play a key role in the formation and propagation of lightning channels. In nature streamers rarely appear alone. Their ensemble behavior is very complex and challenging to describe. For instance, the intricate dynamics within the streamer zone of negative lightning leaders give rise to space stems, which help advance the stepped-leader. Another example is how the increasing morphological complexity of sprites can lead to higher sprite current and greater energy deposition in the mesosphere. Insights into the complex dynamics of a streamer corona can be obtained from laboratory experiments that allow us to control the conditions of streamer formation. Based on simultaneous nanosecond-temporal-resolution photography, and measurements of voltage, current, and x-ray emissions, we report the characteristics of negative laboratory streamers in 88 kPa of atmosphere. The streamers are produced at peak voltages of 62.2 ± 3.8 kV in a point-to-plane discharge gap of 6 cm. While all discharges were driven to the same peak voltage, the discharges occurred at different stages of the relatively slow voltage rise (177 ns), allowing us to study discharge properties as a function of onset voltage. The onset voltage ranged between 24 and 67 kV, but x-ray emissions were observed to only occur above 53 kV, with x-ray burst energies scaling quadratically with voltage. The average delay between the current pulse and x-ray emission was found to be 3.5 ± 0.5 ns, indicating that runaway electrons are produced during the streamer inception phase or no later than the transition stage, when the inception cloud is breaking into streamer filaments. During this short time span, runaway electrons can traverse the gap, hit the ground plate and produce bremsstrahlung x-ray photons. However, streamers themselves cannot traverse more than 3.5 mm across the gap, which supports the idea that runaway electron production is not associated to streamer connection to the ground electrode.more » « less
-
This study examines low-temperature chemistry (LTC) enhancement by nanosecond dielectric barrier discharge (ns-DBD) plasma on a dimethyl ether (DME)/oxygen [Formula: see text] (Ar) premixture for deflagration-to-detonation transition (DDT) in a microchannel. It is found that non-equilibrium plasma generates active species and kinetically accelerates LTC of DME and DDT. In situ laser diagnostics and computational modeling examine the influence of the ns-DBDs on the LTC of DME and DDT using formaldehyde ([Formula: see text]) laser-induced fluorescence (LIF) and high-speed imaging. Firstly, high-speed imaging in combination with LIF is used to trace the presence of LTC throughout the flame front propagation and DDT. Then, competition between plasma-enhanced LTC of ignition and reduced heat release rate of combustion due to plasma-assisted partial fuel oxidation is studied with LIF. Observations of plasma-enhanced LTC effects on DDT are interpreted with the aid of detailed kinetic simulations. The results show that an appropriate number of ns-DBDs enhances LTC of DME and increases [Formula: see text] formation and low-temperature ignition, accelerating DDT. Moreover, it is found that, with many ns-DBDs, [Formula: see text] concentration decreases, indicating that excessive discharges may accelerate fuel oxidation in the premixture, reducing heat release and weakening shock–ignition coupling, inhibiting DDT.more » « less
-
In this work, we report a study of the temperature dependent pulsed current voltage and RF characterization of [Formula: see text]-(Al x Ga 1−x ) 2 O 3 /Ga 2 O 3 hetero-structure FETs (HFETs) before and after silicon nitride (Si 3 N 4 ) passivation. Under sub-microsecond pulsing, a moderate DC-RF dispersion (current collapse) is observed before passivation in gate lag measurements, while no current collapse is observed in the drain lag measurements. The dispersion in the gate lag is possibly attributed to interface traps in the gate–drain access region. DC-RF dispersion did not show any strong dependence on the pulse widths. Temperature dependent RF measurements up to 250 °C do not show degradation in the cutoff frequencies. After Si 3 N 4 deposition at 350 °C, a shift of the threshold voltage is observed which changed the DC characteristics. However, the current collapse is eliminated; at 200 ns pulse widths, a 50% higher current is observed compared to the DC at high drain voltages. No current collapse is observed even at higher temperatures. RF performance of the passivated devices does not show degradation. These results show that ex situ deposited Si 3 N 4 is a potential candidate for passivation of [Formula: see text]-(Al x Ga 1−x ) 2 O 3 /Ga 2 O 3 HFETs.more » « less
-
For primitive nontrivial Dirichlet characters [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text], we study the weight zero newform Eisenstein series [Formula: see text] at [Formula: see text]. The holomorphic part of this function has a transformation rule that we express in finite terms as a generalized Dedekind sum. This gives rise to the explicit construction (in finite terms) of elements of [Formula: see text]. We also give a short proof of the reciprocity formula for this Dedekind sum.more » « less
- Free Publicly Accessible Full Text
-
Accepted Manuscript
- Journal Article:
- https://doi.org/10.1116/6.0001990
