Atmospheric Pressure Plasma Jet in Ar and O 2 /Ar Mixtures: Properties and High Performance for Surface Cleaning

An atmospheric pressure plasma jet generated in Ar and O 2 /Ar mixtures has been investigated by specially designed equipment with double power electrodes at 20∼32 kHz, and their effects on the cleaning of surfaces have been studied. Properties of the jet discharge are studied by electrical diagnostics, including the waveform of discharge voltage, discharge current and the Q-V Lissajous figures. The optical emission spectroscopy is used to measure the plasma parameters, such as the excitation temperature and the gas temperature. It is found that the consumed power and the excitation temperature increase with increase of the discharge frequency. On the other hand, at the same discharge frequency, these parameters in O 2 /Ar mixture plasma are found to be much larger. The effect on surface cleaning is studied from the changes in the contact angle. For Ar plasma jet, the contact angle decreases with increase of the discharge frequency. For O 2 /Ar mixture plasma jet, the contact angle decreases with increase of discharge frequency up to 26 kHz, however, further increase of discharge frequency does not show further decrease in the contact angle. At the same discharge frequency, the contact angle after O 2 /Ar mixture plasma cleaning is found to be much lower compared to the case of pure Ar. From the results of quadrupole mass-spectrum analysis, we can identify more fragment molecules of CO and H 2 O in the emitted gases after O 2 /Ar plasma jet treatment compared with Ar plasma jet treatment, which are produced by the decomposition of surface organic contaminants during the cleaning process.