An Atmospheric Microplasma Generator with Low Breakdown Voltages

This paper presents a new microplasma generator that can discharge helium gas to produce microplasma with ultra-low breakdown voltages at atmospheric pressure. The generator consists of 2 planar metal electrode arrays and a micro flow channel above the electrodes. The electrode arrays create high electric fields at the electrode gap by applying an AC voltage, which breakdown the working gas flowing through the micro channel. The new generator with low discharge voltages is inspired by the phenomenon discovered in experiments that the discharge voltage decreases when using flowing working gas. Experiments shows that the generator is able to generate stable atmospheric plasmas with a discharge voltage as low as 197 V and a low power consumption of 45 mW; both are the lowest results in literature reports.