Date of Award

Summer 2001

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science (MS)

Department

Electrical & Computer Engineering

Program/Concentration

Electrical Engineering

Committee Director

Karl H. Schoenbach

Committee Director

Ravindra P. Joshi

Committee Member

Linda L. Vahala

Committee Member

Amin Dharamsi

Call Number for Print

Special Collections LD4331.E55 M47

Abstract

By applying electric field pulses of short duration (compared to the time constant for glow-to-arc transitions) to a weakly ionized gas, the electron energy distribution can be temporarily shifted to higher energies. This effect causes a nonlinear increase in the ionization rate and consequently a larger electron decay time. This effect has been demonstrated using single pulse operation.3 In order to generate plasma with semi-continuous electron density, repetitive operation is required. As a first step towards repetitive pulsed electric field operation, the temporal development of the voltage across the plasma for two subsequent pulses was measured. The dual pulse generator, built for this purpose, utilizes two 10 Ω striplines with high-pressure spark gaps as switches, which deliver two subsequent pulses directly to the load. The trigger pulses for the two systems can be adjusted in time between 1 µs and 10 ms. Operation in atmospheric pressure air with applied electric fields of 20 kV/cm and 10ns duration allowed us to increase the electron density for a time of 2.3 µs to such values that the discharge voltage stayed below 30 V. Continuous operation in this discharge state would consequently require repetition rates of 450 kHz. This nonequilibrium electron heating effect can be used to reduce the power consumption of repetitive operated glow discharges.7

Rights

In Copyright. URI: http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/ This Item is protected by copyright and/or related rights. You are free to use this Item in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s).

DOI

10.25777/x1c0-9z42

Download

Share

COinS