Plasma generation by dielectric resonator arrays

Abstract

Arrays of dielectric resonators-illuminated by an antenna-are used to ignite and sustain multiple microwave plasmas in parallel. Calcium titanate cylindrical resonators were arranged in a linear array with separation distances between 0.5 and 5 mm. The operating frequency was near the HEM 111 resonance of 1.1 GHz. Paschen curves of the breakdown field and voltage in argon atmosphere are consistent with parallel plate microwave breakdown except within discharge gaps of 1 mm or less. Sustaining of argon plasma between 0.5 Torr and 1 atm within the array is found to alter the electromagnetic scattering from the dielectric resonators, suggesting applications in plasma-reconfigurable metamaterials and photonic crystals.

The 2017 Plasma Roadmap: Low temperature plasma science and technology

“…Extending plasma MMs beyond mm wavelengths will require a substitution of lossy metallic elements with dielectric or plasma resonators. Electrodeless-driven resonators that provide a magnetic response, particularly dielectric resonators [27], afford the possibility of low loss operation. Future advances in designing and predicting the performance of more complex systems, particularly those of higher energy densities, will benefit greatly from the development of coupled field-plasma simulations where a more comprehensive description is used for the electron fluid.…”

A novel, all-dielectric, microwave plasma generator towards development of plasma metamaterials

“…12,26,27) Similarly, in a very recent study, the excitation of plasma using dual-dielectric resonators was demonstrated. 28) Looking closely, one can see that our device was actually destroyed, likely due to the high microwave power typically used for microwave sintering. We have designed, characterized, and provided a proof of concept of a new type of microwave plasma generator.…”

Modeling of atmospheric gas-stream processing using a microwave excited all-dielectric resonant plasma discharge

“…This work is motivated by the experiments of Dennison et al [17] where they studied a linear array of cylindrical all-DRs to generate an argon plasma breakdown by exploiting resonant modes in the microwave regime. We have previously modeled this system and studied the breakdown phenomena in the intercylinder gap and the early plasma development phase [22].…”

“…Metal containing topologies such as split-ring resonators have been used successfully for localized microwave plasma breakdown [14][15][16]. More recently, all-dielectric structures, in particular, two cylindrical dielectric resonators (DRs) in close proximity to each other, have been used to generate plasma breakdown in the gap between the cylinders [17,18].…”