Influence of Impurity Nitrogen Concentration on Fundamental Properties of RF-Driven Non-Equilibrium Atmospheric-Pressure Helium Plasmas

Abstract

Non-equilibrium atmospheric-pressure plasmas have been utilized for various technological applications such as materials processing, biomedical and biological applications, etc. In this paper, the influence of impurity nitrogen concentration on the fundamental properties of rf-driven non-equilibrium atmospheric-pressure helium plasmas was examined using a spatially one-dimensional fluid model, based on the continuity equations for charged and neutral species, the electron energy conservation equation, and the Poisson equation. The simulated I-V characteristics were in good agreement with the experimental ones, qualitatively and quantitatively. From the impurity nitrogen concentration dependence of the discharge sustaining voltage for constant input-power density, it was clarified that the certain value of impurity nitrogen concentration plays an important role in reducing discharge sustaining voltage.