Method for generating surface plasma
AssigneeSandia Corporation
InventorsPaul A. Miller, Ben P. Aragon
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A method for generating a discharge plasma which covers a surface of a body in a gas at pressures from 0.01 Torr to atmospheric pressure, by applying a radio frequency power with frequencies between approximately 1 MHz and 10 GHz across a plurality of paired insulated conductors on the surface. At these frequencies, an arc-less, non-filamentary plasma can be generated to affect the drag characteristics of vehicles moving through the gas. The plasma can also be used as a source in plasma reactors for chemical reaction operations.
Claims20
A method for generating a discharge plasma which covers a surface of a body in a gas, comprising:
- disposing adjacent to a surface of a body in a gas a plurality of paired insulated conductors, said paired insulated conductors forming an array of twin-lead transmission lines, wherein one lead of said twin-lead transmission lines serves as a first electrode terminal and the remaining lead of said twin-lead transmission lines serves as a second electrode terminal;
- connecting said first electrode terminal to a first pole of a radio frequency power source which has first and second opposite poles, and connecting the second electrode terminal either to the second pole of said radio frequency power source or to a ground;
- and
- generating a discharge plasma which covers the surface of said body utilizing said radio frequency power source to energize said first electrode terminal relative to said second electrode terminal with a radio frequency driving voltage at a frequency greater than approximately 1 MHz.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.