Open AccessCharge neutralisation of microparticles by pulsing a low-pressure shielded spatial plasma afterglow
Author(s) -
Boy van Minderhout,
J. C. A. van Huijstee,
A. T. A. Peijnenburg,
P. Blom,
G.M.W. Kroesen,
J. Beckers
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
plasma sources science and technology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.9
H-Index - 108
eISSN - 1361-6595
pISSN - 0963-0252
DOI - 10.1088/1361-6595/abd81f
Subject(s) - afterglow , plasma , shielded cable , inductively coupled plasma , electric field , atomic physics , chemistry , materials science , physics , gamma ray burst , nuclear physics , electrical engineering , quantum mechanics , astronomy , engineering
In this paper, it is shown that microparticles can be effectively neutralised in the (spatial) plasma afterglow of an inductively coupled plasma. A key element in the reported experiments is the utilisation of a grounded mesh grid separating the plasma bulk and the ‘shielded’ plasma afterglow. Once particles—being injected in and charged by the inductively coupled plasma—had passed this mesh grid, the plasma was switched off while the particles continued to be transported under the influence of both flow and gravity. In the shielded spatial plasma afterglow region, the particle charge was deducted from their acceleration in an externally applied electric field. Our experiments demonstrate that all particles were neutralised independently of the applied electric field magnitude. The achieved neutralisation is of primary importance for the further development of plasma-assisted contamination control strategies as well as for a wide range of other applications, such as colourimetric sensing, differential mobility analysers, and medical applications.