Manipulating the propagation of ionization wave by pulsed electrical potential in atmospheric plasma jet

Abstract

A noninvasive method was developed to measure the electrical potential in an atmospheric pressure plasma jet. The spatiotemporal evolution of electrical potential was measured by a wire electrode in experiment and simulated by a two-dimensional self-consistent numerical model, which demonstrates that the electrical potential along with the traveling ionization wave outside the discharge tube in ambient air plays a significant role on the propagation of ionization wave. It furtherly shows that the enhancement and restriction of ionization wave propagation are dependent on the amplitude of electrical potential on the auxiliary electrode, which proposes the way to manipulate the propagation of ionization wave in atmospheric pulsed discharge plasma jet.