Compact, Inexpensive, Low-Power Atmospheric Pressure Plasma Jets Driven by Piezoelectric Transformers
(Room Exhibit Hall A)
30 Apr 19
2:30 PM
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4:00 PM
Atmospheric pressure plasmas enable plasma technology to be used on materials, systems and environments where vacuum-based systems cannot. To broaden their utility, there is a need to develop low-cost, compact atmospheric pressure plasma systems that are portable and compatible with a wide variety of operational environments. To do so, the large power supplies and/or electronics commonly used to generate breakdown at atmospheric pressure need to be replaced with more compact alternatives. Piezoelectric transformers are solid state transformers that can produce large gains in voltage while being lightweight and small, making them attractive candidates for use in plasma production. In this work, we use a low voltage power supply in line with a piezoelectric transformer to produce an atmospheric pressure plasma jet. While operating at the resonance frequency of the piezoelectric transformer (90 kHz), plasma jets can be generated with input voltages as low as 10 V. The electrical and optical characteristics of the piezoelectric driven jet was compared to one produced with a commercial high voltage supply operating at a comparable frequency. Both jets were examined in helium and argon for a variety of different flow rates and operating voltages. In argon, the lengths of the jets were nearly identical for all operating parameters but produced different discharge currents. In helium, the discharge currents were similar but the lengths of the jet differed. Optical emission spectroscopy showed similar chemical composition between the two jets for both feed gases. Together, the results suggest the piezoelectric material has an influence beyond simply amplifying voltage but, can be successfully integrated to meet the requirements needed for plasma production. This work is partially supported by the Naval Research Laboratory base program.