Experimental Study of a Compact Nanosecond Plasma Gun

Abstract

The paper presents a new discharge plasma setup, called plasma gun, allowing the generation of nanosecond duration plasma bullets from a pulsed dielectric barrier discharge reactor. These bullets propagate at very high velocity, up to 5 × 10 8 cm · s−1, in flexible dielectric capillaries flushed with neon or helium flow rates as low as 100 mL · min−1, over distances of a few tens of centimetres, before inducing plasma plume formation in ambient air. Time resolved nanosecond ICCD imaging show evidence for the channelled structure of the bullets which propagate along the inner surface of the dielectric guide. A few centimetres from the DBD reactor where they are generated, the plasma bullets expand with no connection to the high voltage power source. Non‐thermal air plasma plume production is described by spectroscopic measurements. The plasma gun is likely to be developed for remote high voltage fast commutation or in plasma medicine applications or for the decontamination of small diameter catheters. magnified image