Influence of gas discharge parameters on emissions from a dielectric barrier discharge excited argon excimer lamp
Keywords:
argon excimer lamp, dielectric barrier discharge, flow rate, pulsed excitation, second continuum
Abstract
A dielectric barrier discharge excited neutral argon (Ar I) excimer lamp has been developed and characterised. The aim of this study was to develop an excimer lamp operating at atmospheric pressure that can replace mercury lamps and vacuum equipment used in the sterilisation of medical equipment and in the food industry. The effects of discharge gas pressure, flow rate, excitation frequency and pulse width on the intensity of the Ar I vacuum ultraviolet (VUV) emission at 126 nm and near infrared (NIR) lines at 750.4 nm and 811.5 nm have been investigated. These three lines were chosen as they represent emissions resulting from de-excitation of excimer states that emit energetic photons with an energy of 9.8 eV. We observed that the intensity of the VUV Ar2* excimer emission at 126 nm increased with increasing gas pressure, but decreased with increasing excitation pulse frequency and pulse width. In contrast, the intensities of the NIR lines decreased with increasing gas pressure and increased with increasing pulse frequency and pulse width. We have demonstrated that energetic VUV photons of 9.8 eV can be efficiently generated in a dielectric barrier discharge in Ar.References
1. Elsner C, Lenk M, Prager L, Mehnert R. Windowless argon excimer source for surface modification. Appl Surf Sci. 2006;252:3616–3624. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.apsusc.2005.05.071
2. Treshchalov AB, Lissovski AA. VUV–VIS spectroscopic diagnostics of a pulsed high-pressure discharge in argon. J Phys D: Appl Phys. 2009;42(245203):14.
3. Tarasenko VF, Shitts DV, Lomaev MI. About the formation of a barrier discharge in a KrCl excilamp. Rus Phys J. 2003;46(7):3.
4. Baguer N, Bogaerts A, Donko Z, Gijbels R, Sadeghi N. Study of the Ar metastable atom population in a hollow cathode discharge by means of a hybrid model and spectrometric measurements. J Appl Phys. 2005;97(123305):1–12.
5. Carman RJ, Mildren RP, Ward BK, Kane DM. High-pressure (>1 bar) dielectric barrier discharge lamps generating short pulses of high-peak power vacuum ultraviolet radiation. J Phys D: Appl Phys. 2004;37:2399–2407. http://dx.doi.org/10.1088/0022-3727/37/17/010
6. Zhang J-Y, Boyd IW. Efficient XeI* excimer ultraviolet sources from a dielectric barrier discharge. J Appl Phys. 1998;84(3):1174–1178. http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.368182
7. El-Dakrouri A, Yan J, Gupta MC, Laroussi M, Badr Y. VUV emission from a novel DBD-based radiation source. J Phys D: Appl Phys. 2002;35(21):L109–L114.
8. Hirose K, Sugahara H, Matsumo H. Basic performance of VUV exposure systems using head-on type Ar2* and Kr2* DBD excimer lamps. J Lig Vis Environ. 2002;26(1):35–41.
9. Carman RJ, Kane DM, Ward BK. Enhanced performance of an EUV light source (λ = 84 nm) using short-pulse excitation of a windowless dielectric barrier discharge in neon. J Phys D: Appl Phys. 2010;43(025205):L1–L6.
10. Becker KH, Masoud NM, Martus KE, Schoenbach KH. Electron-driven processes in high-pressure plasmas. Eur Phys J D. 2005;35(2):279–297. http://dx.doi.org/10.1140/epjd/e2005-00199-0
11. Neeser S, Kunz T, Langhoff H. A kinetic model for the formation of Ar2 excimers. J Phys D: Appl Phys. 1997;30:1489–1498. http://dx.doi.org/10.1088/0022-3727/30/10/016
12. Bletzinger P, Ganguly BN. The effect of displacement current on fast-pulsed dielectric barrier discharges. J Phys D: Appl Phys. 2003;36:1550–1552. http://dx.doi.org/10.1088/0022-3727/36/13/318
13. Ou QR, Meng YD, Xu X, Shu XS, Ren ZX. Effect of frequency on emission of XeI* excimer in a pulsed dielectric barrier discharge. Chin Phys Lett. 2004;21(7):1317–1319. http://dx.doi.org/10.1088/0256-307X/21/7/037
14. Masoud N, Martus K, Becker K. VUV emission from a cylindrical dielectric barrier discharge in Ar and in Ar/N2 and Ar/air mixtures. J Phys D: Appl Phys. 2005;38:1674–1683. http://dx.doi.org/10.1088/0022-3727/38/11/006
2. Treshchalov AB, Lissovski AA. VUV–VIS spectroscopic diagnostics of a pulsed high-pressure discharge in argon. J Phys D: Appl Phys. 2009;42(245203):14.
3. Tarasenko VF, Shitts DV, Lomaev MI. About the formation of a barrier discharge in a KrCl excilamp. Rus Phys J. 2003;46(7):3.
4. Baguer N, Bogaerts A, Donko Z, Gijbels R, Sadeghi N. Study of the Ar metastable atom population in a hollow cathode discharge by means of a hybrid model and spectrometric measurements. J Appl Phys. 2005;97(123305):1–12.
5. Carman RJ, Mildren RP, Ward BK, Kane DM. High-pressure (>1 bar) dielectric barrier discharge lamps generating short pulses of high-peak power vacuum ultraviolet radiation. J Phys D: Appl Phys. 2004;37:2399–2407. http://dx.doi.org/10.1088/0022-3727/37/17/010
6. Zhang J-Y, Boyd IW. Efficient XeI* excimer ultraviolet sources from a dielectric barrier discharge. J Appl Phys. 1998;84(3):1174–1178. http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.368182
7. El-Dakrouri A, Yan J, Gupta MC, Laroussi M, Badr Y. VUV emission from a novel DBD-based radiation source. J Phys D: Appl Phys. 2002;35(21):L109–L114.
8. Hirose K, Sugahara H, Matsumo H. Basic performance of VUV exposure systems using head-on type Ar2* and Kr2* DBD excimer lamps. J Lig Vis Environ. 2002;26(1):35–41.
9. Carman RJ, Kane DM, Ward BK. Enhanced performance of an EUV light source (λ = 84 nm) using short-pulse excitation of a windowless dielectric barrier discharge in neon. J Phys D: Appl Phys. 2010;43(025205):L1–L6.
10. Becker KH, Masoud NM, Martus KE, Schoenbach KH. Electron-driven processes in high-pressure plasmas. Eur Phys J D. 2005;35(2):279–297. http://dx.doi.org/10.1140/epjd/e2005-00199-0
11. Neeser S, Kunz T, Langhoff H. A kinetic model for the formation of Ar2 excimers. J Phys D: Appl Phys. 1997;30:1489–1498. http://dx.doi.org/10.1088/0022-3727/30/10/016
12. Bletzinger P, Ganguly BN. The effect of displacement current on fast-pulsed dielectric barrier discharges. J Phys D: Appl Phys. 2003;36:1550–1552. http://dx.doi.org/10.1088/0022-3727/36/13/318
13. Ou QR, Meng YD, Xu X, Shu XS, Ren ZX. Effect of frequency on emission of XeI* excimer in a pulsed dielectric barrier discharge. Chin Phys Lett. 2004;21(7):1317–1319. http://dx.doi.org/10.1088/0256-307X/21/7/037
14. Masoud N, Martus K, Becker K. VUV emission from a cylindrical dielectric barrier discharge in Ar and in Ar/N2 and Ar/air mixtures. J Phys D: Appl Phys. 2005;38:1674–1683. http://dx.doi.org/10.1088/0022-3727/38/11/006