Electrical and optical properties of Ar/NH3 atmospheric pressure plasma jet

Inspired by the Penning effect, we obtain a glow-like plasma jet by mixing ammonia (NH3) into argon (Ar) gas under atmospheric pressure. The basic electrical and optical properties of an atmospheric pressure plasma jet (APPJ) are investigated. It can be seen that the discharge mode transforms from filamentary to glow-like when a little ammonia is added into the pure argon. The electrical and optical analyses contribute to the explanation of this phenomenon. The discharge mode, power, and current density are analyzed to understand the electrical behavior of the APPJ. Meanwhile, the discharge images, APPJ's length, and the components of plasma are also obtained to express its optical characteristics. Finally, we diagnose several parameters, such as gas temperature, electron temperature, and density, as well as the density number of metastable argon atoms of Ar/NH3 APPJ to help judge the usability in its applications. Published by AIP Publishing.