A plasma needle for generating homogeneous discharge in atmospheric pressure air

Abstract

Homogeneous discharge in air is often considered to be the ultimate low-temperature atmospheric pressure plasmas for industrial applications. In this paper, we present a method whereby stable homogeneous discharge in open air can be generated by a simple plasma needle. The discharge mechanism is discussed based on the spatially resolved light emission waveforms from the plasma. Optical emission spectroscopy is used to determine electron energy and rotational temperature, and results indicate that both electron energy and rotational temperature increase with increasing the applied voltage. The results are analyzed qualitatively based on the discharge mechanism.