Temporal and spatial distributions of the electric field in an atmospheric pressure, ns pulse, positive and negative polarity helium plasma jets are measured by ps electric field induced second harmonic generation. The measurements have been done in a quasi-two-dimensional plasma jet impinging on liquid water, using a laser sheet and a focused laser beam positioned at different heights above the water surface. Absolute calibration of the electric field is obtained by measuring a known Laplacian electric field distribution for the same geometry and at the same flow conditions. The vertical component of the electric field is determined by isolating the second harmonic signal with the vertical polarization. The measured electric field is averaged over the span of the plasma jet, in the direction of the laser sheet or the focused laser beam. The spatial resolution of the laser sheet measurements is approximately 15 μm across the sheet, with the temporal resolution of 10 ns. The spatial resolution of the focused laser beam measurements is approximately 180 μm across the beam, with the temporal resolution of 2.5 ns. The results show non-monotonous electric field distribution across the jet, with two maxima produced by the surface ionization waves propagating over water. Considerable electric field enhancement is detected near the surface. Residual charge accumulation on the water surface is detected only in the negative polarity pulse discharge. The results provide new insight into the charge species kinetics and transport in atmospheric pressure plasma jets, and produce data for detailed validation of high-fidelity kinetic models.

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Electric field vector components in a nanosecond pulse, surface dialectric barrier discharge plasma actuator are measured by picosecond second harmonic generation, for positive, negative, and alternating polarity pulse trains. Plasma images show that in the same polarity train, the positive polarity discharge develops as two consecutive surface ionization waves, while the negative polarity discharge propagates as a single diffuse ionization wave. In the alternating polarity train, both positive and negative polarity discharge plasmas become strongly filamentary. In all pulse trains, the measurement results demonstrate a significant electric field offset before the discharge pulse, due to the surface charge accumulation during previous discharges pulses. This demonstrates that charge accumulation is a significant factor affecting the electric field in the discharge, even at very low pulse repetition rates. Peak electric field measured in the alternating polarity pulse train is lower compared to that in same polarity trains. However, the coupled pulse energy in the alternating polarity train is much higher, by a factor of 3-4, most likely due to the neutralization of the surface charge accumulated on the dielectric during the previous, opposite polarity pulses. This suggests that plasma surface actuators powered by alternating polarity pulse trains may generate higher amplitude thermal perturbations, producing a stronger effect on the flow field. The present results show that the time scale for the electric field reduction in the plasma after breakdown is fairly long, several tens of ns, including the conditions when the discharge develops as a diffuse ionization wave. This suggests that a considerable fraction of the energy is coupled to the plasma at a relatively low reduced electric field, several tens of Townsend. At these conditions, the discharge energy fraction thermalized as rapid heating would remain fairly low, thus limiting the effect on the flow caused by the highamplitude localized thermal perturbations.

Electric field in nanosecond pulse discharges in ambient air is measured by picosecond four-wave mixing, with absolute calibration by a known electrostatic field. The measurements are done in two geometries, (a) the discharge between two parallel cylinder electrodes placed inside quartz tubes, and (b) the discharge between a razor edge electrode and distilled water surface. In the first case, breakdown field exceeds DC breakdown threshold by approximately a factor of four, 140±10 kV cm −1 . In the second case, electric field is measured for both positive and negative pulse polarities, with pulse durations of ∼10 ns and ∼100 ns, respectively. In the short duration, positive polarity pulse, breakdown occurs at 85 kV cm −1 , after which the electric field decreases over several ns due to charge separation in the plasma, with no field reversal detected when the applied voltage is reduced. In a long duration, negative polarity pulse, breakdown occurs at a lower electric field, 30 kV cm −1 , after which the field decays over several tens of ns and reverses direction when the applied voltage is reduced at the end of the pulse. For both pulse polarities, electric field after the pulse decays on a microsecond time scale, due to residual surface charge neutralization by transport of opposite polarity charges from the plasma. Measurements 1 mm away from the discharge center plane, ∼100 μm from the water surface, show that during the voltage rise, horizontal field component (E x ) lags in time behind the vertical component (E y ). After breakdown, E y is reduced to near zero and reverses direction. Further away from the water surface (≈0.9 mm), E x is much higher compared to E y during the entire voltage pulse. The results provide insight into air plasma kinetics and charge transport processes near plasma-liquid interface, over a wide range of time scales.

Thomson scattering is used to study temporal evolution of electron density and electron temperature in nanosecond pulse discharges in helium sustained in two different configurations, (i) diffuse filament discharge between two spherical electrodes, and (ii) surface discharge over plane quartz surface. In the diffuse filament discharge, the experimental results are compared with the predictions of a 2D plasma fluid model. Electron densities are put on an absolute scale using pure rotational Raman spectra in nitrogen, taken without the plasma, for calibration. In the diffuse filament discharge, electron density and electron temperature increase rapidly after breakdown, peaking at n e ≈ 3.5 • 10 15 cm −3 and T e ≈ 4.0 eV. After the primary discharge pulse, both electron density and electron temperature decrease (to n e ~ 10 14 cm −3 over ~1 µs and to T e ~ 0.5 eV over ~200 ns), with a brief transient rise produced by the secondary discharge pulse. At the present conditions, the dominant recombination mechanism is dissociative recombination of electrons with molecular ions, He 2 +. In the afterglow, the electron temperature does not relax to gas temperature, due to superelastic collisions. Electron energy distribution functions (EEDFs) inferred from the Thomson scattering spectra are nearly Maxwellian, which is expected at high ionization fractions, when the shape of EEDF is controlled primarily by electron-electron collisions. The kinetic model predictions agree well with the temporal trends detected in the experiment, although peak electron temperature and electron density are overpredicted. Heavy species temperature predicted during the discharge and the early afterglow remains low and does not exceed T = 400 K, due to relatively slow quenching of metastable He * atoms in twobody and three-body processes. In the surface discharge, peak electron density and electron temperature are n e ≈ 3 • 10 14 cm 3 and T e ≈ 4.25 eV, attained after the surface ionization wave reaches the grounded electrode. The sensitivity of the present diagnostics is too low to measure electron density in the plasma during surface ionization wave propagation (estimated to be below n e ≈ 10 13 cm −3). After peaking during the primary current pulse, the electron density decays due to dissociative recombination. Electron temperature decreases rapidly over ~150 ns after the primary current pulse rise, to T e ≈ 0.5 eV, followed by a much more gradual electron cooling between the primary and the secondary discharge pulses, due to superelastic collisions providing moderate electron heating in the afterglow.

Atmospheric pressure plasmas in argon are of particular interest due to the production of highly excited and reactive species enabling numerous plasma-aided applications. In this contribution, we report on absolute optical emission and absorption spectroscopy of a radio frequency (RF) driven capacitively coupled argon glow discharge operated in a parallel-plate configuration. This enabled the study of all key parameters including electron density and temperature, gas temperature, and absolute densities of atoms in highly electronically excited states. The space and time-averaged electron density and temperature were determined from the measurement of the absolute intensity of the electron-atom bremsstrahlung in the visible range. Considering the non-Maxwellian electron energy distribution function, an electron temperature (T e ) of 2.1 eV and an electron density (n e ) of 1.1 × 10 19 m −3 were obtained. The time-averaged and spatially resolved absolute densities of atoms in the metastable (1s 5 and 1s 3 ) and resonant (1s 4 and 1s 2 ) states of argon in pure Ar and Ar/He mixture were obtained by broadband absorption spectroscopy. The 1s 5 metastable atoms had the largest density near the sheath region with a maximum value of 8 × 10 17 m −3 , while all other 1s states had densities of at most 2 × 10 17 m −3 . The dominant production and loss mechanisms of these atoms were discussed, in particular, the role of radiation trapping. We conclude with a comparison of the plasma properties of the argon RF glow discharges with the more common He equivalent and highlight their differences.

Electric field during ns pulse discharge breakdown in ambient air has been measured by ps four-wave mixing, with temporal resolution of 0.2 ns. The measurements have been performed in a diffuse plasma generated in a dielectric barrier discharge, in plane-to-plane geometry. Absolute calibration of the electric field in the plasma is provided by the Laplacian field measured before breakdown. Sub-nanosecond time resolution is obtained by using a 150 ps duration laser pulse, as well as by monitoring the timing of individual laser shots relative to the voltage pulse, and post-processing four-wave mixing signal waveforms saved for each laser shot, placing them in the appropriate 'time bins'. The experimental data are compared with the analytic solution for time-resolved electric field in the plasma during pulse breakdown, showing good agreement on ns time scale. Qualitative interpretation of the data illustrates the effects of charge separation, charge accumulation/neutralization on the dielectric surfaces, electron attachment, and secondary breakdown. Comparison of the present data with more advanced kinetic modeling is expected to provide additional quantitative insight into air plasma kinetics on ~ 0.1-100 ns scales.

Time evolution of electron density and electron temperature in a nanosecond pulse, diffuse filament electric discharge in H 2 -He and O 2 -He mixtures at a pressure of 100 Torr is studied by Thomson/pure rotational Raman scattering and kinetic modeling. The discharge is sustained between two spherical electrodes separated by a 1 cm gap and powered by high voltage pulses ~150 ns duration. Discharge energy coupled to the plasma filament 2-3 mm in diameter is 4-5 mJ/pulse, with specific energy loading of up to ~0.3 eV/molecule. At all experimental conditions, a rapid initial rise of electron temperature and electron density during the discharge pulse is observed, followed by the decay in the afterglow, over ~100 ns-1 µs. Electron density in the afterglow decays more rapidly as H 2 or O 2 fraction in the mixture is increased. In He/H 2 mixtures, this is likely due to more rapid recombination of electrons in collisions with + H 2 and + H 3 ions, compared to recombination with + He 2 ions. In O 2 /He mixtures, electron density decay in the afterglow is affected by recombination with + O 2 and + O 4 ions, while the effect of three-body attachment is relatively minor. Peak electron number densities and electron temperatures are n e = (1.7-3.1) • 10 14 cm −3 and T e = 2.9-5.5 eV, depending on gas mixture composition. Electron temperature in the afterglow decays to approximately T e ≈ 0.3 eV, considerably higher compared to the gas temperature of T = 300-380 K, inferred from O 2 pure rotational Raman scattering spectra, due to superelastic collisions. The experimental results in helium and O 2 -He mixtures are compared with kinetic modeling predictions, showing good agreement.