Method and apparatus for covering bodies with a uniform glow discharge plasma and applications thereof
AssigneeThe University of Tennessee Research Corporation
InventorJohn Reece Roth
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Method and apparatus for covering a free-standing body with a uniform glow discharge plasma, particularly at atmospheric pressure. The method may be used to provide a body coated with such a plasma, and also to treat a workpiece.
Claims23
A method for generating a steady-state one atmosphere glow discharge plasma which covers a surface of a body in a gas, wherein said body has a skin on which are disposed a plurality of insulated strip electrodes which are spaced from and generally parallel to each other, said method comprising the steps of:
- providing a first electrode terminal including first electrode strips disposed on the skin of said body, and a second electrode terminal including second electrode strips disposed on the skin of said body and which are adjacent to said first electrode strips, wherein said second electrode terminal is electrically isolated from said first electrode terminal,
- connecting said first electrode terminal to a first pole of a radio frequency (RF) power source which has first and second opposite poles, and connecting the second electrode terminal either to the second pole of said RF power source or to ground, and
- generating said steady-state one atmosphere glow discharge plasma by utilizing said RF power source to energize said first electrode terminal relative to said second electrode terminal with an RF driving voltage at an applied frequency, wherein the RF driving voltage is high enough to generate an electric field which covers the surface of the body, and the applied frequency produces an RF electric field which is high enough to trap positive ions of the plasma on electric field lines between the two electrode terminals, but not so high that electrons of the plasma are also trapped during a half cycle of oscillation of the RF driving voltage,
- producing a steady-state one atmosphere glow discharge plasma in the gas which covers the surface of the body.
A method for generating a steady-state one atmosphere glow discharge plasma which covers a surface of a body in a gas, wherein said body has a metallic skin covered with an insulating layer, said method comprising the steps of:
- providing a first electrode terminal associated with a first portion of said metallic skin, and a second electrode terminal associated with a second portion of said metallic skin which is spaced from said first portion of said metallic skin and electrically isolated from said first electrode terminal,
- connecting said first electrode terminal to a first pole of a radio frequency (RF) power source which has first and second opposite poles, and connecting the second electrode terminal either to the second pole of said RF power source or to ground, and
- generating said steady-state one atmosphere glow discharge plasma by utilizing said RF power source to energize said first electrode terminal relative to said second electrode terminal with an RF driving voltage at an applied frequency, wherein the RF driving voltage is high enough to generate an electric field which covers the surface of the body, and the applied frequency produces an RF electric field which is high enough to trap positive ions of the plasma on electric field lines between the two electrode terminals, but not so high that electrons of the plasma are also trapped during a half cycle of oscillation of the RF driving voltage,
- producing a steady-state one atmosphere glow discharge plasma in the gas which covers the surface of the body.
An apparatus for generating a steady-state one atmosphere glow discharge plasma which covers a surface of a body in a gas, the apparatus comprising:
- a radio frequency (RF) power source which has first and second opposite poles,
- a first electrode terminal associated with a first portion of said body and connected to a first of the poles of the RF power source, and
- a second electrode terminal associated with a second portion of said body which is separate from the first portion of said body and electrically isolated from said first electrode terminal, and which is connected either to a second of the poles of the RF power source or to ground,
- wherein said RF power source energizes said first electrode terminal relative to said second electrode terminal with an RF driving voltage at an applied frequency, wherein the RF driving voltage is high enough to generate an electric field which covers the surface of the body, and wherein the applied frequency produces an RF electric field which is high enough to trap positive ions of the plasma on electric field lines between the two electrode terminals, but not so high that electrons of the plasma are also trapped during a half cycle of oscillation of the RF driving voltage,
- thereby generating the steady-state one atmosphere glow discharge plasma in the gas which covers the surface of said body.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.