Enhancements of electric field and afterglow of non-equilibrium plasma by Pb(ZrxTi1-x)O3 ferroelectric electrode.

Manipulating surface charge, electric field, and plasma afterglow in a non-equilibrium plasma is critical to control plasma-surface interaction for plasma catalysis and manufacturing. Here, we show enhancements of surface charge, electric field during breakdown, and afterglow by ferroelectric barrier discharge. The results show that the ferroelectrics manifest spontaneous electric polarization to increase the surface charge by two orders of magnitude compared to discharge with an alumina barrier. Time-resolved in-situ electric field measurements reveal that the fast polarization of ferroelectrics enhances the electric field during the breakdown in streamer discharge and doubles the electric field compared to the dielectric barrier discharge. Moreover, due to the existence of surface charge, the ferroelectric electrode extends the afterglow time and makes discharge sustained longer when alternating the external electric field polarity. The present results show that ferroelectric barrier discharge offers a promising technique to tune plasma properties for efficient plasma catalysis and electrified manufacturing.

Two-color polarization spectroscopy measurements of Zeeman state-to-state collision induced transitions of nitric oxide in binary gas mixtures.

We investigated collision induced transitions in the (0, 0) band of the A2Σ+-X2Π electronic transition of nitric oxide (NO) using two-color polarization spectroscopy (TCPS). Two sets of TCPS spectra for 1% NO, diluted in different buffer gases at 295 K and 1 atm, were obtained with the pump beam tuned to the R11(11.5) and OP12(1.5) transitions. The buffer gases were He, Ar, and N2. The probe was scanned while the pump beam was tuned to the line center. Theoretical TCPS spectra, calculated by solving the density matrix formulation of the time-dependent Schrödinger wave equation, were compared with the experimental spectra. A collision model based on the modified exponential-gap law was used to model the rotational level-to-rotational level collision dynamics. A model for collisional transfer from an initial to a final Zeeman state was developed based on the difference in cosine of the rotational quantum number J projection angle with the z-axis for the two Zeeman states. Rotational energy transfer rates and Zeeman state collisional dynamics were varied to obtain good agreement between theory and experiment for the two different TCPS pump transitions and for the three different buffer gases. One key finding, in agreement with quasi-classical trajectory calculations, is that the spin-rotation changing transition rate in the A2Σ+ level of NO is almost zero for rotational quantum numbers ≥8. It was necessary to set this rate to near zero to obtain agreement with the TCPS spectra.

Broadband ultrafast-laser-absorption spectroscopy for multi-hydrocarbon measurements near 3.3 µm in flames.

This paper presents the development and application of a broadband ultrafast-laser-absorption-spectroscopy (ULAS) technique operating in the mid-infrared for simultaneous measurements of temperature, methane (C H 4), and propane (C 3 H 8) mole fractions. Single-shot measurements targeting the C-H stretch fundamental vibration bands of C H 4 and C 3 H 8 near 3.3 µm were acquired in both a heated gas cell up to ≈650K and laminar diffusion flames at 5 kHz. The average temperature error is 0.6%. The average species mole fraction errors are 5.4% for C H 4 and 9.9% for C 3 H 8. This demonstrates that ULAS is capable of providing high-fidelity hydrocarbon-based thermometry and simultaneous measurements of both large and small hydrocarbons in combustion gases.