Production of reactive species by atmospheric pressure streamers in N2-O2 mixtures

Abstract

Streamer discharges in atmospheric gases are currently receiving increased attention in connection with environmental issues or new material treatment technologies. The chemical reactivity of streamer-produced plasma, created by various active atomic and molecular species, is a critical parameter for most application areas. Recently, advanced diagnostics based on optical and energy transfer methods have been applied to study dynamics and spatial distribution of several important streamer-produced species. This paper presents an overview of the most recently reported experimental achievements to monitor and detect reactive species, such as, e.g., NO, OH, and O3 radicals, nitrogen and oxygen atoms, or N2(A3Σ) metastables.