Evaluation of the electron density and temperature in a sliding discharge

H. KELLY; R. SOSA; D. GRONDONA; A. MÁRQUEZ; V. LAGO; G. ARTANA

PHYSICA SCRIPTA

Institute of Physics IOP

Año: 2008 vol. T131 p. 1 - 5

0281-1847

A sliding discharge using two electrodes on a dielectric layer (upper electrodes) and a thirdelectrode on its reverse side, facing the upper inter-electrode gap (lower electrode) wasgenerated in air at atmospheric pressure. Application of a high dc negative voltage to oneof the upper electrodes and to the lower electrode, and a high ac voltage to the other upperelectrode generates a stable and homogeneous surface plasma (plasma sheet) in the upperelectrode’s gap. In this work, the plasma sheet optical emission of the spectral bandscorresponding to the 0–0 transition of the second positive system of N2 (λ = 337.1 nm) andthe first negative system of N+2 (λ = 391.4 nm) has been measured and analysed. It was foundthat the plasma sheet consisted of a set of cathode-directed streamers. The streamer generationfrequency and its transit time across the inter-electrode gap have been studied. On the basis ofa reliable atomic model to interpret the line emission, the total electron number at the streamerhead and the electron temperature have been derived.