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Time- and spatially resolved emission spectroscopy of the dielectric barrier discharge for soft ionization sustained by a quasi-sinusoidal high voltage

Analytical and Bioanalytical Chemistry volume 407, pages 6689–6696 (2015)Cite this article

Abstract

A helium capillary dielectric barrier discharge was investigated by means of time-resolved optical emission spectroscopy with the aim of elucidating the process of the formation of the plasma jet. The helium emission line at 706 nm was utilized to monitor spatial and temporal propagation of the excitation of helium atoms. The discharge was sustained with quasi-sinusoidal high voltage, and the temporal evolution of the helium atomic emission was measured simultaneously with the discharge current. The spatial development of the plasma was investigated along the discharge axis in the whole region, which covers the positions in the capillary between the electrodes as well as the plasma jet outside the capillary. The high voltage electrode was placed 2 mm from the capillary orifice, and the distance between the ground and high voltage electrode was 10 mm. The complete spatiotemporal grid of the development of the helium excitation has shown that during the positive half-period of the applied voltage, two independent plasmas, separated in time, are formed. First, the early plasma that constitutes the plasma jet is formed, while the discharge in the capillary follows subsequently. In the early plasma, the helium atom excitation propagation starts in the vicinity of the high voltage electrode and departs from the capillary towards the ground electrode as well as several millimeters outside of the capillary in the form of the plasma jet. After relatively slow propagation of the early plasma in the capillary and the jet, the second plasma starts between the electrodes. During the negative voltage period, only the plasma in the capillary between the electrodes occurs.

Spatiotemporal evolution of the helium excitation propagation in the He capillary DBD

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Acknowledgments

The financial support by the Ministerium für Innovation, Wissenschaft und Forschung des Landes Nordrhein-Westfalen, the Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung, the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (project no. FR 1192/13-1) is gratefully acknowledged. This work has been supported in part by the Croatian Science Foundation under the project no. 2753.

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Affiliations

  1. Institute of Physics, Bijenicka 46, 10000, Zagreb, Croatia

    Vlasta Horvatic & Cedomil Vadla

  2. ISAS—Leibniz Institut für analytische Wissenschaften, Bunsen-Kirchhoff-Str. 11, 44139, Dortmund, Germany

    Antje Michels, Norman Ahlmann, Günter Jestel & Joachim Franzke

  3. Department of Physics, Faculty of Science, University of Zagreb, Bijenicka 32, 10000, Zagreb, Croatia

    Damir Veza

Authors
  1. Vlasta Horvatic
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  2. Antje Michels
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  3. Norman Ahlmann
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  4. Günter Jestel
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  5. Damir Veza
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  6. Cedomil Vadla
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  7. Joachim Franzke
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Correspondence to Vlasta Horvatic.

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Horvatic, V., Michels, A., Ahlmann, N. et al. Time- and spatially resolved emission spectroscopy of the dielectric barrier discharge for soft ionization sustained by a quasi-sinusoidal high voltage. Anal Bioanal Chem 407, 6689–6696 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00216-015-8827-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00216-015-8827-7

Keywords

  • Dielectric-barrier-discharge ionization
  • Soft ionization
  • Time-resolved emission spectroscopy