Microwave plasma source operating with atmospheric pressure air-water mixtures

The overall performance of a surface wave driven air-water plasma source operating at atmospheric pressure and 2.45 GHz has been analyzed. A 1D model previously developed has been improved in order to describe in detail the creation and loss processes of active species of interest. This model provides a complete characterization of the axial structure of the source, including the discharge and the afterglow zones. The main electron creation channel was found to be the associative ionization process N + O -> NO+ + e. The NO(X) relative density in the afterglow plasma jet ranges from 1.2% to 1.6% depending on power and water percentage, according to the model predictions and the measurements. Other types of species such as NO2 and nitrous acid HNO2 have also been detected by mass and Fourier Transform Infrared spectroscopy. The relative population density of O(P-3) ground state atoms increases from 8% to 10% in the discharge zone when the input microwave power increases from 200 to 400W and the water percentage from 1% to 10%. Furthermore, high densities of O-2(a(1)Delta(g)) singlet delta oxygen molecules and OH radicals (1% and 5%, respectively) can be achieved in the discharge zone. In the late afterglow the O-2(a(1)Delta(g)) density is about 0.1% of the total density. This plasma source has a flexible operation and potential for channeling the energy in ways that maximize the density of active species of interest. (C) 2012 American Institute of Physics. [http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.4762015]