High Frequency Atmospheric Cold Plasma Treatment System For Materials Surface Processing

The paper presents a new laboratory-made plasma treatment system. The power source which generates the plasma is based on a modern half-bridge type inverter circuit working at a frequency of 4 MHz, and giving an output power of about 200 W. The inverter is fed directly from the mains voltage and features high speed protection circuits for both over voltage and over current protection, making the system light and easy to operate. The output of the inverter is connected to the resonant circuit formed by a Tesla coil and the dielectric barrier discharge plasma chamber. The plasma is generated at atmospheric pressure in argon, helium or mixtures of helium and small quantities of argon. It is a cold discharge (Tgas < 150 degrees C) with a homogeneous structure. The plasma generates chemically active species, especially O and OH, which could be important in various applications such as the treatment and processing of materials surfaces.