Development of Ultrasonic Pulsed Plasma Jet Source for Remote Surface Treatment

Abstract

We have developed a supersonic pulsed plasma jet device capable of long-distance and high-speed processing, and investigated its basic characteristics for surface treatment applications, mainly in the material and medical fields. The developed apparatus is equipped with a mechanism to transport active species in the plasma to the object to be treated by jetting the generated high-density plasma outward with supersonic pulse jets, which allows the gas flow velocity to increase significantly during pulse jetting compared with plasma generation. This enables the active species in the plasma to reach the treatment target before deactivation, thereby realizing surface treatment at a distance. Measurements using the Schlieren method revealed that the velocity of the jet flow reached Mach 1.7.