Development of a novel dielectric barrier microhollow cathode discharge for gaseous atomic emission spectroscopy

The present research demonstrates a novel microhollow cathode discharge based on the dielectric barrier discharge principle (DB-MHCD) for application as an analytical microplasma gas detector. The plasma is formed inside a microfabricated multilayer structure and is mainly confined in a bore with a diameter of 100-250 mm. The DB-MHCD operates with alternating rectangular voltages of 1-2 kV(pp) and a frequency of 50 kHz. The insulation of the electrodes by the dielectric layer prevents deterioration of the electrodes and eliminates contamination of the gaseous analyte with electrode material. This enables long-term operation of the DB-MHCD device over several days. The analytical performance of the DB-MHCD is demonstrated with halogenated hydrocarbons leading to an excellent detection limit of 27 ppb for gaseous Cl in He.