A low power miniaturized dielectric barrier discharge based atmospheric pressure plasma jet.

In this paper, a dielectric barrier discharge plasma based atmospheric pressure plasma jet has been generated in a floating helix and floating end ring electrode configuration using argon and helium gases. This configuration is subjected to a range of supply frequencies (10-25 kHz) and supply voltages (2-6 kV) at a fixed rate of gas flow rate (i.e., 1 l/min). The electrical characterization of the plasma jet has been carried out using a high voltage probe and current transformer. The current-voltage characteristics have been analyzed, and the consumed power has been estimated at different applied combinations for optimum power consumption at maximum jet length. The obtained optimum power and jet length for argon and helium gases are 12 mW and 32 mm, and 7.7 mW and 42 mm, respectively. It is inferred that besides the electrode configurations, the discharge gas is also playing a significant role in the low power operation of the cold plasma jet at maximum jet length. The obtained results are interpreted on the basis of penning processes.