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In this paper, we present the results for voltage–current (V–i) characteristics of dc low-pressure low to moderate current discharges in vapors of alcohols: methanol, ethanol, isopropanol, and n-butanol vapors. These electrical measurements are supported by optical recordings of axial emission profiles from low-current to high-current regimes. The voltage–current characteristics and the corresponding distribution of emission intensities were typically recorded for two pd values, in the left-hand branch of the Paschen curve (0.15 Torr cm) and in the minimum of the Paschen curves (ranging from 0.30 to 0.40 Torr cm for different alcohols selected here). In the recorded V–i characteristics, the different discharge regimes of discharge operation are easily distinguished. Axial profiles of emitted light from the low-current to high-current regimes reveal that heavy particles make up a significant contribution to excitation part in alcohol vapor discharges. In the region of transition from normal to abnormal glow in the methanol vapor discharge, sudden changes of the regime of operation were observed and several diagnostic techniques have been applied to them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We review the potential of plasma medical applications, the connections to nanotechnologies and the results obtained by our group. A special issue in plasma medicine is the development of the plasma sources that would achieve non-equilibrium at atmospheric pressure in atmospheric gas mixture with no or only marginal heating of the gas, and with desired properties and mechanisms that may be controlled. Our studies have shown that control of radicals or chemically active products of the discharge such as ROS (reactive oxygen species) and/or NO may be used to control the growth of the seeds. At the same time specially designed plasma needle and other sources were shown to be efficient to sterilize not only colonies of bacteria but also planctonic samples (microorganisms protected by water) or bio films. Finally we have shown that plasma may induce differentiation of stem cells. Non-equilibrium plasmas may be used in detection of different specific markers in medicine. For example proton transfer mass spectroscopy may be employed in detection of volatile organic compounds without their dissociation and thus as a technique for instantaneous measurement of the presence of markers for numerous diseases. [Projekat Ministarstva nauke Republike Srbije, br. ON171037 i br. III41011]

Non-equilibrium plasmas have been used as one of the principal technologies for development of microelectronics and they are the basis for the development of new generations of nano-electronics devices required for 65 and 40 nm technologies. Microdischarges recently have become more common in everyday life. Technology of plasma etching has enabled us to develop such discharges and the field of microdischarges has grown into the most interesting field of the physics of collisional non-equilibrium plasmas. Recently, an effort to fabricate microplasma sources that can be integrated with other MEMS devices to form larger Microsystems has been made. Plasma-based microsystems can find application in bio-microelectro- mechanical system (bio-MEMS) sterilization, small-scale materials processing and microchemical analysis systems. However, integrability requires not only a size reduction, but also an understanding of the physics governing the new small-scale discharges. In this paper, we have performed modeling of a breakdown voltage by using Particle-in-Cell/Monte Carlo collision (PIC/MCC) code taking into account the secondary electron emission due to a high field.

In this paper we have modeled a dual frequency coupled plasma reactor (DF-CCP) by using a 1d3v PIC/MCC code. The obtained results apart from their theoretical relevance have practical applications especially for development of plasma reactors and for nanoelectronics. Dual frequency plasmas are used for etching of dielectric interconnect layers with high aspect ratios (contact holes). In the DF-CCP, the density of the plasma is controlled by the high frequency, while the ion energy depends mainly on the potential drop in the sheath, which is controlled by the low frequency. The results of our simulations show the dependence of the energy of the ions arriving at the inner electrode on the voltage of the low frequency generator and how the voltage of the high frequency generator affects the ion flux on the electrode.

One of the main Interests in science of Nikola Tesla were gas discharges plasmas, their application in lighting and in production of ozone as well as their role in conduction of electricity through the atmosphere. In particular Tesla is well known as the first person to produce rf plasmas. Such plasmas in the present day constitute the main technology required to produce integrated circuits (IC) and have been essential in the revolution that resulted from IC technologies. In addition Tesla participated in studies of arcs especially arcs used as a source of light, corona discharges required to induce plasma chemical reactions and produce ozone and was involved in various aspects of gas breakdown and gaseous dielectrics. His ideas, level of his understanding and current status of these fields are discussed in this review.

In this paper we will present results for plasma sterilization of planktonic samples of two reference strains of bacteria, Pseudomonas aeruginosa ATCC 27853 and Enterococcus faecalis ATCC 29212. We have used a plasma needle as a source of non-equilibrium atmospheric plasma in all treatments. This device is already well characterized by OES, derivative probes and mass spectrometry. It was shown that power delivered to the plasma is bellow 2 W and that it produces the main radical oxygen and nitrogen species believed to be responsible for the sterilization process. Here we will only present results obtained by electron paramagnetic resonance which was used to detect the OH, H and NO species. Treatment time and power delivered to the plasma were found to have the strongest influence on sterilization. In all cases we have observed a reduction of several orders of magnitude in the concentration of bacteria and for the longest treatment time complete eradication. A more efficient sterilization was achieved in the case of gram negative bacteria.

Plasma treatment is based on the physico-chemical changes of the material surface and as an ecologically and economically acceptable process it can be an attractive alternative to conventional modifications. The possibilities of plasma technology application to the modification of polymer and textile materials are discussed. Different specific properties of the material can be achieved by plasma cleaning, etching, functionalization or polymerization. The final effects are strongly influenced by the treatment parameters (treatment time, pressure, power, gas flow), the applied gas and nature of the material. The plasma treatment of polymers is predominantly focused on cleaning and activation of the surfaces to increase adhesion, binding, wettability, dye ability and printability. Current studies deal more with plasma polymerization where an ultra thin film of plasma polymer is deposited on the material surface and, depending on the applied monomer, different specific properties can be obtained (i.e. chemical and thermal resistance, abrasion resistance, antireflexion, water repellence, etc.). Plasma application to textiles is mostly oriented toward wool and synthetic fibres, though some studies also consider cotton, hemp, flax and silk. The main goal of plasma treatment is to impart a more hydrophilic fibre surface and accordingly increase wettability, dye ability, printability and particularly, shrink resistance in the case of wool. Recent studies have favored technical textiles, where plasma polymerization can offer a wide range of opportunities.

The modern textile fibre treatments aim to obtain the required level of beneficial effect while attempting to confine the modification to the fibre surface. Recently, much attention has been focused on different physical methods of fibre surface modification, cold plasma treatment being considered as very useful. Moreover, there are efficient chemical methods available, such as peroxide, biopolymer and enzyme treatment. Some interesting combinations of these physical and chemical surface modification methods as means to modify fibre surface topography and thus controlling the surface-related properties of the fibre are presented in this paper. The properties obtained are discussed on the basis of the physico-chemical changes in the surface layer of the fibre, being assessed by wettability and contact angle measurements, as well as by FTIR-ATR and XPS analysis. The SEM and AFM technique are used to assess the changes in the fibre surface topography and to correlate these changes to the effectiveness, uniformity and severity of the textile fibre surface modification treatments.

In this paper, we show and discuss a set of cross sections for electron collisions with dimethyl ether (DME, C2H6O) obtained by the standard swarm analysis of experimental data for drift velocities and ionization coefficients measured in pure DME and its mixtures with Ar and Ne by E. Oettinger and coworkers. While the existing cross section set gave relatively good predictions for drift velocities, it proved necessary to modify the inelastic cross sections in order to achieve a better agreement with drift velocities in gas mixtures and a good agreement for the ionization coefficient. Furthermore, the derived set of cross sections was used to calculate the electron transport and rate coefficients under the influence of a constant electric field and crossed electric and magnetic DC and RF orthogonal configuration fields. The effect of the magnitude and frequency of the fields on electron transport was studied separately. Our work has resulted in a database of collision and transport data which can be used in modeling of both DC and RF discharges and plasma applications containing pure DME and its mixtures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]