Characterisation of a microwave induced plasma torch for glass surface modification

Abstract

Microwave induced plasma torches find wide applications in material and chemical analysis. Investigation of a coaxial electrode microwave induced plasma (CE-MIP) torch is conducted in this study, making it available for glass surface modification and polishing. A dedicated nozzle is designed to inject secondary gases into the main plasma jet. This study details the adaptation of a characterisation process for CE-MIP technology. Microwave spectrum analysis is used to create a polar plot of the microwave energy being emitted from the coaxial electrode, where the microwave energy couples with the gas to generate the plasma jet. Optical emission spectroscopy analysis is also employed to create spatial maps of the photonic intensity distribution within the plasma jet when different additional gases are injected into it. The CE-MIP torch is experimentally tested for surface energy modification on glass where it creates a super-hydrophilic surface.

Experimental Set-up for the Study of Chemical Fractionation and Aerosol Dynamics

“…Microwave-induced plasma is also a well-known technique for generating extreme heat (Ho et al, 2017;Bennett et al, 2021). A microwave-induced plasma system couples microwaves into gas to produce plasma.…”

Characterisation of a Cold Atmospheric Pressure Plasma Torch for Medical Applications: Demonstration of Device Safety

“…engineering applications, there is no limit on component size, and processing can be un dertaken much faster as there is no requirement for a vacuum chamber [1]; surface eng neering applications include nanometre etching of surfaces [2][3][4], deposition of nanometr coatings [5] and surface energy modification to improve the bonding of components [6] Atmospheric plasma generation has many other applications beyond surface eng neering, which includes increasing the range planes can fly on a certain amount of fu [7], increasing the energy efficiency of solar energy plants [8], nanomaterial processin [9], as surgical cutting tools [10], for cleaning of contaminated water supplies [11], an decontamination of microorganisms in medical applications [12].…”

“…Plasma, discharged under vacuum conditions, underpins the development of the silicon wafer industry, which makes the devices that you are using to read this paper. Atmospheric plasma technology-discharging plasma in the air-has been under development for several decades and has many benefits over vacuum technologies: in surface engineering applications, there is no limit on component size, and processing can be undertaken much faster as there is no requirement for a vacuum chamber [1]; surface engineering applications include nanometre etching of surfaces [2][3][4], deposition of nanometre coatings [5] and surface energy modification to improve the bonding of components [6].…”

Jet morphology analysis of microwave‐generated plasma for microfabrication of optics

“…As a microscale energy beam with chemical etching capability, it has advantages in fabricating high aspect ratio structures for hard and brittle optical materials. [ 15–17 ] Arnold et al and Adam et al [ 18,19 ] have developed a series of microwave plasma jets used for the etching process. Depending on the size of the plasma jet device and the working parameters (applied power, the composition of the working gas, etc), the series of plasma jets have different morphologies, resulting in that the etching process could have different material removal rates (MRR) ranging from 0.1 to 30 mm 3 /min and the full width at half maximum (FWHM) of the removal profile ranging from 0.2 to 12 mm, meeting different processing requirements.…”