Practical considerations of the visible bremsstrahlung inversion (VBI) method for arbitrary EEDF determination in cold atmospheric-pressure plasma

Abstract

Abstract The arbitrary electron energy distribution function (EEDF) of cold atmospheric-pressure plasma is determined from optical emission spectroscopy measurement. Using the electron-neutral bremsstrahlung-dominated continuum spectrum and relevant cross-section data, a partial arbitrary EEDF can be reconstructed through the reinforcement learning-based visible bremsstrahlung inversion method. From an atmospheric-pressure argon dielectric barrier discharge plasma emission spectrum (440–900 nm), a partial arbitrary EEDF can be determined with a resolution of 0.2 eV. The resemblance between the obtained arbitrary EEDF and a two-temperature Maxwellian was found with T e  = 0.26 and 2.2 eV. The EEDF range is mostly constrained by the spectrum wavelength range.