Open AccessGeneration and confinement of microwave gas-plasma in photonic dielectric microstructure
Author(s) -
Benoît Debord,
Raphaël Jamier,
F. Gérôme,
O. Leroy,
C. BoisseLaporte,
P. Leprince,
L. L. Alves,
Fetah Benabid
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
optics express
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.394
H-Index - 271
ISSN - 1094-4087
DOI - 10.1364/oe.21.025509
Subject(s) - materials science , plasma , atomic physics , argon , photonic crystal fiber , microwave , optics , dielectric , fiber , optoelectronics , physics , quantum mechanics , composite material
We report on a self-guided microwave surface-wave induced generation of ~60 μm diameter and 6 cm-long column of argon-plasma confined in the core of a hollow-core photonic crystal fiber. At gas pressure of 1 mbar, the micro-confined plasma exhibits a stable transverse profile with a maximum gas-temperature as high as 1300 ± 200 K, and a wall-temperature as low as 500 K, and an electron density level of 10¹⁴ cm⁻³. The fiber guided fluorescence emission presents strong Ar⁺ spectral lines in the visible and near UV. Theory shows that the observed combination of relatively low wall-temperature and high ionisation rate in this strongly confined configuration is due to an unprecedentedly wide electrostatic space-charge field and the subsequent ion acceleration dominance in the plasma-to-gas power transfer.