Simulation of an Atmospheric Pressure Direct Current Microplasma Discharge in He/N2

L. Tong
Keisoku Engineering System Co. Ltd.
Tokyo
Japan
Published in 2011

A study of an atmospheric pressure direct current microplasma discharge in He/N2 is performed using COMSOL Multiphysics. The calculation of heat transfer is fully coupled with the plasma simulation so as to resolve the gas heating in discharges. A simple circuit model is used to decide the discharge voltage so that the current-voltage (I-V) characteristics are obtained.

The I-V characteristics in He agree well with the available experimental data and it is found that with the addition of some amount of N2 to He, N2 is highly ionized, playing an important role in the discharge kinetics, even if its amount is very small such as 0.002~0.02%.

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