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Full-Text Articles in Plasma and Beam Physics

Impendance Probe Payload Development For Space-Based Joint Service Collaboration, Brian T. Kay Mar 2021

Impendance Probe Payload Development For Space-Based Joint Service Collaboration, Brian T. Kay

Theses and Dissertations

Collaborations utilizing small spacecraft in near earth orbit between the U. S. Coast Guard Academy (CGA), Naval Research Lab (NRL), the U. S. Naval Academy (USNA), and the Air Force Institute of Technology (AFIT) have initiated scientific and engineering space-based experiments. Sourced opportunities like the VaSpace ThinSat missions have provided a platform for payload, sensor, and experiment development that would have otherwise been resource prohibitive. We have constructed an impedance probe payload derived from the existing ‘Space PlasmA Diagnostic suitE’ (SPADE) mission operating from NASA’s International Space Station. Currently both space and laboratory plasmas are investigated with AC impedance measurements …


Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy And Plasmas Containing Cyanide, Christopher Matthew Helstern Dec 2020

Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy And Plasmas Containing Cyanide, Christopher Matthew Helstern

Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation focuses on laser-induced plasma of diatomic molecular cyanide. Optical breakdown plasma generation is produced by high-peak-power 1064 nm Q-switched nanosecond pulsed radiation. Laser-induced breakdown is performed on a 1:1 molar gas mixture of carbon dioxide and nitrogen held at a fixed pressure of 760 Torr, a 1:1 molar gas mixture of carbon dioxide and nitrogen held at a fixed pressure of 2069 Torr, and a flowing 1:1 molar gas mixture of carbon dioxide and nitrogen flowing at a rate of 100 mL per minute. Plasma shockwave measurements in laboratory air are shown to determine the shock front geometry …


Measurement Of Electron Density And Temperature From Laser-Induced Nitrogen Plasma At Elevated Pressure (1–6 Bar), Ashwin P. Rao [*], Mark Gragston, Anil K. Patnaik, Paul S. Hsu, Michael B. Shattan Nov 2019

Measurement Of Electron Density And Temperature From Laser-Induced Nitrogen Plasma At Elevated Pressure (1–6 Bar), Ashwin P. Rao [*], Mark Gragston, Anil K. Patnaik, Paul S. Hsu, Michael B. Shattan

Faculty Publications

Laser-induced plasmas experience Stark broadening and shifts of spectral lines carrying spectral signatures of plasma properties. In this paper, we report time-resolved Stark broadening measurements of a nitrogen triplet emission line at 1–6 bar ambient pressure in a pure nitrogen cell. Electron densities are calculated using the Stark broadening for different pressure conditions, which are shown to linearly increase with pressure. Additionally, using a Boltzmann fit for the triplet, the electron temperature is calculated and shown to decrease with increasing pressure. The rate of plasma cooling is observed to increase with pressure. The reported Stark broadening based plasma diagnostics in …


Argon Metastable And Resonant Level Densities In Ar And Ar/Cl² Discharges Used For The Processing Of Bulk Niobium, Jeremy Peshl, Roderick Mcneill, Charles I. Sukenik, Milka Nikolić, Svetozar Popović, Leposava Vŭsković Jan 2019

Argon Metastable And Resonant Level Densities In Ar And Ar/Cl² Discharges Used For The Processing Of Bulk Niobium, Jeremy Peshl, Roderick Mcneill, Charles I. Sukenik, Milka Nikolić, Svetozar Popović, Leposava Vŭsković

Physics Faculty Publications

A comparative analysis of two popular spectroscopy techniques is conducted in a coaxial cylindrical capacitively coupled discharge designed for the plasma processing of superconducting radio frequency (SRF) cavities. The density of the metastable and resonant levels in Ar is measured in both Ar and Ar/Cl2 discharges to properly characterize the unique discharge system and aid in the development of a cavity etching routine. The first method, deemed the “branching fraction method,” utilizes the sensitivity of photon reabsorption of radiative decay to measure the lower state (metastable and resonant) densities by taking ratios of spectral lines with a common upper …


Generation Of Large-Volume Diffuse Plasma By An External Ionization Wave From A Single-Electrode Plasma Jet, Seyed Hamid Razavi Barzoki Jul 2018

Generation Of Large-Volume Diffuse Plasma By An External Ionization Wave From A Single-Electrode Plasma Jet, Seyed Hamid Razavi Barzoki

Electrical & Computer Engineering Theses & Dissertations

A non-thermal transient diffuse plasma can be generated remotely in a nonconductive reduced pressure chamber by an external guided fast ionization wave (FIW). We found that an atmospheric-pressure low-temperature plasma jet (APPJ) can be a source of FIW which transfers an enhanced electric field at the wave front across a reduced pressure Pyrex glass chamber with no electrical connection to the chamber. Here, we studied the formation and propagation of the APPJ plasma, the interaction of atmospheric-pressure guided FIW with a dielectric surface which forms the wall of the reduced-pressure system, and the formation and propagation of the reduce-pressure FIW …


Spatial Structure Of Ion Beams In An Expanding Plasma, Evan M. Aguirre, Earl E. Scime, Derek S. Thompson, Timothy N. Good Dec 2017

Spatial Structure Of Ion Beams In An Expanding Plasma, Evan M. Aguirre, Earl E. Scime, Derek S. Thompson, Timothy N. Good

Physics and Astronomy Faculty Publications

We report spatially resolved perpendicular and parallel, to the magnetic field, ion velocity distribution function (IVDF) measurements in an expanding argon helicon plasma. The parallel IVDFs, obtained through laser induced fluorescence (LIF), show an ion beam with v ≈ 8000 m/s flowing downstream and confined to the center of the discharge. The ion beam is measurable for tens of centimeters along the expansion axis before the LIF signal fades, likely a result of metastable quenching of the beam ions. The parallel ion beam velocity slows in agreement with expectations for the measured parallel electric field. The perpendicular IVDFs show an …


Abrupt Change In Neon Discharge Plasma Detected Through Optogalvanic Effects, Xianming Han, Michael Blosser, Prabhakar Misra, Haridass Chandran Oct 2015

Abrupt Change In Neon Discharge Plasma Detected Through Optogalvanic Effects, Xianming Han, Michael Blosser, Prabhakar Misra, Haridass Chandran

Xianming Han

When a laser is tuned between two excited energy levels of a gas in a Direct Current discharge lamp, the discharge current will experience a temporary disturbance lasting tens or hundreds of microseconds known as the optogalvanic effect. We have carried out extensive studies of optogalvanic effects in neon discharge plasmas for transitions at 621.7 nm, 630.5 nm, 638.3 nm, 650.7 nm and 659.9 nm. A nonlinear least-squares Monte Carlo technique has been used to determine the relevant amplitude coefficients, decay rates and the instrumental time constant. We discovered an abrupt change in the neon discharge plasma at a discharge …


Experimental Studies On The Plasma Bullet Propagation And Its Inhibition, Erdinc Karakas, Mounir Laroussi Jan 2010

Experimental Studies On The Plasma Bullet Propagation And Its Inhibition, Erdinc Karakas, Mounir Laroussi

Electrical & Computer Engineering Faculty Publications

Plasma bullets generated by atmospheric pressure low temperature plasma jets have recently been an active research topic due to their unique properties and their enhanced plasma chemistry. In this paper, experimental insights into the plasma bullet lifetime and its velocity are reported. Data obtained from intensified charge-coupled device camera and time-resolved optical emission spectroscopy (OES) elucidated the existence of a weakly ionized channel between the plasma bullet and its source (such as the plasma pencil). Factors responsible for the inhibition of the propagation of the bullet, such as low helium mole fraction, the magnitude of the applied voltage, and the …


Investigation Of Radio Frequency Discharges And Langmuir Probe Diagnostic Methods In A Fast Flowing Electronegative Background Gas, Nathaniel P. Lockwood Dec 2007

Investigation Of Radio Frequency Discharges And Langmuir Probe Diagnostic Methods In A Fast Flowing Electronegative Background Gas, Nathaniel P. Lockwood

Theses and Dissertations

Discharges in a flowing background gas are used to produce charged and excited species for numerous applications including etching semiconductors and pumping gas discharge lasers (Pinhero and others, 1998). The effect of a flowing background gas on the charged and excited neutral species generation by an RF discharge in a flow tube and the diagnostics of the resulting plasma with a Langmuir probe have been investigated for pressures between 0.001 to 1 Torr and flow velocities up to 1000 m/s. This investigation was performed using a fluid method coupled to a chemical kinetic model and a hybrid Particle-In-Cell/Monte Carlo Collision …


Dynamics Of An Atmospheric Pressure Plasma Plume Generated By Submicrosecond Voltage Pulses, Xinpei Lu, Mounir Laroussi Jan 2006

Dynamics Of An Atmospheric Pressure Plasma Plume Generated By Submicrosecond Voltage Pulses, Xinpei Lu, Mounir Laroussi

Electrical & Computer Engineering Faculty Publications

Nonequilibrium plasmas driven by submicrosecond high voltage pulses have been proven to produce high-energy electrons, which in turn lead to enhanced ionization and excitations. Here, we describe a device capable of launching a cold plasma plume in the surrounding air. This device, "the plasma pencil," is driven by few hundred nanosecond wide pulses at repetition rates of a few kilohertz. Correlation between current-voltage characteristics and fast photography shows that the plasma plume is in fact a small bulletlike volume of plasma traveling at unusually high velocities. A model based on photoionization is used to explain the propagation kinetics of the …


X-Ray Generation From Metal Targets Coated With Wavelength-Scale Spheres, D. R. Symes, H. A. Sumeruk, I. V. Churina, Thomas D. Donnelly, J. Landry, T. Ditmire May 2005

X-Ray Generation From Metal Targets Coated With Wavelength-Scale Spheres, D. R. Symes, H. A. Sumeruk, I. V. Churina, Thomas D. Donnelly, J. Landry, T. Ditmire

All HMC Faculty Publications and Research

X-ray yield measurements from targets coated with wavelength-scale spheres are compared with measurements from polished targets. Evidence for a hotter resonant electron temperature due to field enhancements from Mie resonances in the spheres is investigated.


Electron Heating In Atmospheric Pressure Glow Discharges, Robert H. Stark, Karl H. Schoenbach Jan 2001

Electron Heating In Atmospheric Pressure Glow Discharges, Robert H. Stark, Karl H. Schoenbach

Bioelectrics Publications

The application of nanosecond voltage pulses to weakly ionized atmospheric pressure plasmas allows heating the electrons without considerably increasing the gas temperature, provided that the duration of the pulses is less than the critical time for the development of glow-to-arc transitions. The shift in the electron energy distribution towards higher energies causes a temporary increase in the ionization rate, and consequently a strong rise in electron density. This increase in electron density is reflected in an increased decay time of the plasma after the pulse application. Experiments in atmospheric pressure air glow discharges with gas temperatures of approximately 2000 K …


Measurement Of Magnetic Fluctuations By O-X Mode Conversion, L. L. Vahala, G. Vahala, N. Bretz Jan 1990

Measurement Of Magnetic Fluctuations By O-X Mode Conversion, L. L. Vahala, G. Vahala, N. Bretz

Electrical & Computer Engineering Faculty Publications

The possibility of measuring magnetic fluctuations in a fusion plasma is considered by examining the O→X mode conversion. Under certain conditions and with good angular resolution, this mode conversion can be attributed to the presence of magnetic fluctuations even though the level of these fluctuations is much lower than that of density fluctuations. Some nonideal effects such as mode polarization mismatch at the plasma edge are also discussed.