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In this letter, we present scanning electron microscopy (SEM) results that confirm in a direct way our earlier explanation of an abrupt coagulation event as the cause for the void hiccup. In a recent paper, we reported on the fast and interrupted expansion of voids in a reactive dusty argon-acetylene plasma. The voids appeared one after the other, each showing a peculiar, though reproducible, behavior of successive periods of fast expansion, abrupt contraction, and continued expansion. The abrupt contraction was termed "hiccup" and was related to collective coagulation of a new generation of nanoparticles growing in the void using relatively indirect methods: electron density measurements and optical emission spectroscopy. In this letter, we present conclusive evidence using SEM of particles collected at different moments in time spanning several growth cycles, which enables us to follow the nanoparticle formation process in great detail. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Needle-like diamond grains encased in nano-graphitic layers are an ideal granular structure of diamond films to achieve high conductivity and superior electron field emission (EFE) properties. This paper describes the plasma post-treatment (ppt) of ultrananocrystalline diamond (UNCD) films at low substrate temperature to achieve such a unique granular structure. The CH4/N2 plasma ppt-processed films exhibit high conductivity of σ = 1099 S/cm as well as excellent EFE properties with turn-on field of E0 = 2.48 V/μm (Je = 1.0 mA/cm² at 6.5 V/μm). The ppt of UNCD film is simple and robust process that is especially useful for device applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents experimental results showing that continuous negative ion extraction, without co-extracted electrons, is possible from highly electronegative SF6 ion-ion plasma at low gas pressure (1 mTorr). The ratio between the negative ion and electron densities is more than 3000 in the vicinity of the two-grid extraction and acceleration system. The measurements are conducted by both magnetized and non-magnetized energy analyzers attached to the external grid. With these two analyzers, we show that the extracted negative ion flux is almost electron-free and has the same magnitude as the positive ion flux extracted and accelerated when the grids are biased oppositely. The results presented here can be used for validation of numerical and analytical models of ion extraction from ion-ion plasma. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reports optical emission spectroscopy measurements resolved laterally within a single microdischarge during the negative half-cycle of a sinusoidally driven dielectric barrier discharge. The maximum values of the reduced electric field, vibrational temperature of N2(C3Πu), and rotational temperature of N2+(B2Σu+) were approximately 300 Td, 3500 K, and 1200 K, respectively. These values were correlated to the outer-edges of the microdischarge near the plasma-dielectric surface interface. These maximum values were significantly greater than measurements made elsewhere within the microdischarge and suggest a strong sheath at the outer-edges of the microdischarge. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper compares the influence of different waveforms as input for a dielectric barrier discharge plasma actuator investigated in context of plasma-assisted flow control. The electrical aspects, the plasma morphology, the body force production, and the two-component time-resolved electric wind produced over a single ac period of signal are investigated. Results shown that square waveform is optimal in terms of body force and mean electric wind production, but the velocity fluctuations are enhanced by using a sinusoidal waveform. The time-resolved measurements of the produced velocity demonstrate that the electromechanical conversion mechanism is quasi-linear in the vicinity of the discharge. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highly ionized discharge for physical vapor deposition at very low pressure is presented in the paper. The discharge is generated by electron cyclotron wave resonance (ECWR) which assists with ignition of high power impulse magnetron sputtering (HiPIMS) discharge. The magnetron gun (with Ti target) was built into the single-turn coil RF electrode of the ECWR facility. ECWR assistance provides pre-ionization effect which allows significant reduction of pressure during HiPIMS operation down to p = 0.05 Pa; this is nearly more than an order of magnitude lower than at typical pressure ranges of HiPIMS discharges. We can confirm that nearly all sputtered particles are ionized (only Ti+ and Ti++ peaks are observed in the mass scan spectra). This corresponds well with high plasma density ne ∼ 1018 m-3, measured during the HiPIMS pulse. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We report in this paper experimental measurements in order to validate the concept of switchable electromagnetic band gap filters based on plasma capillaries in the microwave regime. The plasma tube is embedded inside the structure to create a bistable (plasma on or off) punctual defect. We first investigate two kinds of discharge tubes: Ar-Hg and pure Ne, which we then use to experimentally achieve plasma-based reconfigurable applications, namely, a two-port coupler and a two-port demultiplexer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Low-k materials such as silicon dioxide (SiO2) play an important role in the semiconductor industry. Plasma has become indispensable for advanced materials processing. In this work a treatment of SiO2 single crystal by direct current plasma discharge is studied in detail. Offline metrology is conducted for silicon dioxide wafers by Raman scattering, energy-dispersive x-ray spectroscopy, and ellipsometry. Broad Raman peak at around 2800 cm-1 is observed for the treated SiO2 wafers. Effects of plasma treatment on position of this peak are reported in the paper. An analysis of this correlation could be a framework for creating virtual etch rate sensors, which might be of importance in managing plasma etching processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The fabrication of diamond-based vertical power devices which are the most suited for high current applications requires the use of thick heavily boron-doped (B-doped) diamond single crystals. Although the growth of thin B-doped diamond films is well controlled over a large concentration range, little is known about the growth conditions leading to heavily doped thick single crystals. In this paper, it was found that the microwave power densities (MWPD) coupled to the plasma used to synthesize B-doped diamond by chemical vapor deposition is one of the key parameters allowing tuning doping efficiencies over two orders of magnitude. At high MWPD (above 100 W cm-3) the boron doping efficiency (DE) is extremely low while further increasing the boron concentration in the gas phase is no use as this leads to plasma instability. On the other hand, when low MWPD are used (<50 W cm-3), DE can be strongly increased but twinning and defects formation hampers the surface morphology. The use of intermediate MWPD densities has been demonstrated as the key in obtaining thick heavily B-doped diamond crystals (>1020 cm-3) with good morphologies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A comparative study has been performed for properties (temperature, density, and electron Coulomb coupling constant) of plasma induced by high-intensity (∼GW/cm2) nanosecond laser-metal interactions in air, water, and vacuum. The study is for early-stage (t<=30 ns) plasma evolution, where the above plasma properties are very difficult to measure experimentally and hence a comparative property study has been rarely reported in literature. In this paper a physics-based predictive model is used as the investigation tool. The model was verified based on experimental measurements for the early-stage plasma pressure and front propagation and the late-stage (t>=30 ns) plasma temperature and electron number density, which are relatively easy to measure. Therefore, the experimentally verified model can provide reasonably accurate information on the difficult-to-measure plasma temperature and density in the early-stage at least in the semiquantitative sense, and the information will be very useful for the fundamental laser plasma study and relevant laser applications. It has been found that plasma with very different temperatures and densities can be created in different media. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper describes how to light several microdischarges in parallel without having to individually ballast each one. The V-I curve of a microhollow cathode discharge is characterized by a constant voltage in the normal glow regime because the plasma is able to spread over the cathode surface area to provide the additional secondary electrons needed. If one limits the cathode surface area, the V-I characteristic can be forced into an abnormal glow regime in which the operating voltage must increase with the current. It is then possible to light several microdischarges mounted in parallel without ballasting them individually. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents the application of cutting multiwalled carbon nanotubes (cut-MWNTs) in solar cell. Cutting of MWNTs is performed by plasma fluorination and followed by defluorination. Cut-MWNTs with lengths of 50–200 nm are incorporated in a poly(3-octylthiophene)/n-Si heterojunction solar cell. We found that a device fabricated with cut-MWNTs shows much better performance than that of a device with pristine MWNTs. The device with cut-MWNTs shows short circuit current density, open circuit voltage, fill factor, and power conversion efficiency as 7.65 mA/cm2, 0.23 V, 31%, and 0.54%, respectively. Here, we proposed that cut-MWNTs provide efficient hole transportation having a few nanometer transportation path, hence suppressing recombination. Cut-MWNTs can be the solution to the shorting and shunting effects generally observed in the MWNT solar cell. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The total current Itotal waveform in a plasma focus discharge is the most commonly measured quantity, contrasting with the difficult measurement of Ipinch. However, yield laws should be scaled to focus pinch current Ipinch rather than the peak Itotal. This paper describes how Ipinch may be computed from the Itotal trace by fitting a computed current trace to the measured current trace using the Lee model. The method is applied to an experiment in which both the Itotal trace and the plasma sheath current trace were measured. The result shows good agreement between the values of computed and measured Ipinch. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigated the sterilization effects of a brush-shaped plasma created at one atmospheric pressure. A population of 1.0×104–1.0×105 Escherichia coli or Micrococcus luteus bacteria was seeded in filter paper media and then subjected to Ar and/or Ar+O2 plasmas. A complete kill of the Micrococcus luteus required about 3 min argon plasma exposures. With oxygen addition into the argon plasma gas streams, a complete kill of the bacteria needed only less than 1 min plasma exposure for Micrococcus luteus and about 2 min exposure for Escherichia coli. The plasma treatment effects on the different bacteria cell structures were examined using scanning electron microscopy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The current paper investigates stimulated Raman scattering (SRS) when laser-induced plasma is formed in heavy water by focusing an intense pulsed 532 nm Nd:YAG laser beam at room temperature. An unexpected low-frequency SRS line attributed to the lattice translational modes of ice-VII (D2O) is observed. The pressure of the plasma shockwave is estimated using low-frequency SRS line shift. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]