Surface Modification of Fluororubber Using Atmospheric Pressure Dielectric Barrier Discharge （DBD）

Fluoride rubber F2311 film, an alternating copolymer of CF2-CFC1 （CTFE） and CH2-CF2 （VF2） components, was treated by atmospheric pressure dielectric barrier discharge （DBD） in air. The surface structure, topography and surface chemistry of the treated F2311 films were characterized by contact angle measurement, atomic force microscopy （AFM）, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy （XPS）, respectively. The experimental results showed that a short time air plasma treatment led to morphological, wettability and chemical changes in the F2311 films. The surface hydrophilicity increased greatly after the plasma treatment, the static water contact angle decreased from 98.6° to 32°, and oxygen containing groups （C=O, O-C=O, etc. ） were introduced. Atomic force microscopy revealed that plasma produced by DBD etched F2311 films obviously. The roughness of the samples increased remarkably with the formation of peaks and valleys on the treated surfaces. The increased surface wettability may be correlated with both the introduction of hydrophilic groups due to air plasma oxidation of the surface and the change in surface morphology etched by DBD.     

The Design and Test of a Be Window for the ITER Radial X-Ray Camera

Beryllium(Be) window is a key component of the ITER radial X-ray camera(RXC).The Be window presented in this paper has a mechanical clamping structure, the thickness of the Be foil is 80 μm, and the X-ray threshold of the 80 μm Be foil is 1.24 keV. A honeycomb support is designed and applied to strengthen the Be foil to prevent it from breakage when it is exposed to1 atm perssure. Based on analysis results, the hole diameter of the support is chosen as 4 mm. A metal seal is used to isolate the vacuum on two sides of the Be window, the hollow metal sealing ring ensures the He leakage rate of the Be window being lower than 6×10-10Pa·m3·s-1. Baking(240°C, 2 h) and vibration(3.3 Hz, 2 h) tests are carried out and the feasibility of the Be window's sealant in these situations is tested. The Be window has good stability that can save maintenance cost as well as enhancing the safety of the RXC.     

Synthesis of Crystalline Carbon Nitride Thin Films by Pulsed Arc Discharge at Atmospheric Pressure

The preparation of crystalline C3N4 films was investigated using pulsed arc discharge from mixed methanol and ammonia water at atmospheric pressure. The X-ray diffraction （XRD） patterns of the films prepared at a substrate temperature of 450℃ suggested that the film was composed of α-C3N4 and fl-C3N4 crystallites. Raman spectra exhibited distinct peaks which are in good agreement with those predicted theoretically for C3N4 crystallites.     

Growth of Fluorocarbon Films by Low-Pressure Dielectric Barrier Discharge

Plasma polymerized fluorocarbon （FC） films have been deposited on silicon substrates from dielectric barrier discharge （DBD） plasma of C4Fs at room temperature under a pressure of 25～125 Pa. The effects of the discharge pressure and frequency of power supply on the films have been systematically investigated. FC films with a less cross linked structure may be formed at a relatively high pressure. Increase in the frequency of power supply leads to a significant increase in the deposition rate. Static contact angle measurements show that deposited FC films have a stable, hydrophobic surface property. All deposited films show smooth surfaces with an atomic surface roughness. The relationship between plasma parameters and the properties of the deposited FC films are discussed.     

Observation of cavitation and water-refilling processes in plants with X-ray phase contrast microscopy

With the spatial coherence of X-rays and high flux and brightness of the 3rd generation synchrotron radiation facility, X-ray phase contrast microscopy （XPCM） at Shanghai Synchrotron Radiation Facility （SSRF） can provide high resolution dynamic imaging of low electron density materials in principle. In this paper, we investigated the cavitation and water-refilling processes in rice and bamboo leaves utilizing XPCM at SSRF. The occurrence of xylem cavitation was recorded in vivo. The study also revealed that under different dehydration conditions, cavitation occurs in different degrees, and therefore, the refilling process is different. The results demonstrate that SSRF can provide high enough fluxes to study dynamic processes in plants in real-time, and XPCM is expected to be a promising method to reveal the mechanisms of cavitation and its repair in plants nondestructively.     

Analytic fitting and simulation methods for characteristic X-ray peaks from Si-PIN detector

A semi-empirical detector response function （DRF） model is established to fit characteristic X-ray peaks recorded in Si-PIN spectra, which is mainly composed of four components： a truncated step function, a Gaussian-shaped full-energy peak, a Gaussian-shaped Si escape peak and an exponential tail. A simple but useful statistical distribution-based analytic method （SDA） is proposed to achieve accurate values of standard deviation for characteristic X-ray peaks. And the values of the model parameters except for the standard deviation are obtained by weighted least-squares fitting of the pulse-height spectra from a number of pure-element samples. A Monte Carlo model is also established to simulate the X-ray measurement setup. The simulated flux spectrum can be transformed by Si-PIN detector response function to real pulse height spectrum as studied in this work. Finally, the fitting result for a copper alloy sample was compared with experimental spectra, and the validity of the present method was demonstrated.     

Study on Propagation Characteristics of Plasma Surface Wave in Medium Tube

Axial propagation characteristics of the axisymmetric surface wave along the plasma in the medium tube were studied. The expressions of electromagnetic field inside and outside the medium tube were deduced. Also, the impacts of several factors, such as plasma density, signal frequency, inner radius of medium tube, collision frequency, etc., on plasma surface wave propa- gation were numerically simulated. The results show that, the properties of plasma with higher density and lower gas pressure are closer to those of metal conductor. Furthermore, larger radius of medium tube and lower signal frequency are better for surface wave propagation. However, the effect of collision frequency is not obvious. The optimized experimental parameters can be chosen as the plasma density of about 10^17 m^-3 and the medium radius between 11 mm and 19 mm.     

Simulation Studies of Rib Structure Effect on Discharge Characteristics of Plasma Display Panel

To investigate the effect of the rib structure on the discharge characteristics of the plasma display panel, the potential distribution, particles density distribution and ions incident angle distribution were examined by simulation of a two-dimensional particle-in-cell/Monte Carlo collision, with two kinds of rib structure： the stripe rib structure and the Waffle rib structure. The results showed that the distribution of electric potential at the corner of the discharge cell was almost the same for these two rib structures while in the centre there was a difference between these two rib structures. The striation phenomenon could be observed in both cases. The distribution of density also indicated that the striation phenomenon was accompanied by the firing of discharge, and the Waffle rib structure might reduce the density humps. In the cell with a stripe rib structure, the profiles of the surface charge density along the sustained dielectric layer presented a better fluctuating distribution than that in the cell with a Waffle rib structure. The spatial potential and particle density in the discharge bulk showed that the Waffle ribs could weaken the striation phenomenon, which could be explained by the decrease in the particle numbers in the discharge cell. The simulation results of the ion incident angle showed that most ions impacted the sustained dielectric layer in the normal stripe rib cell with an incident angle in the range of 6° to 19° while with the Waffle rib structure the incident angle of most ions was in the range of 4° to 19°. The Waffle rib structure did not affect the angle distribution of incident ions significantly.     

Influence of Long-Term Plasma Irradiation on Metallic First Mirrors in HT-7 Tokamak

The first mirror （FM） samples made of polycrystal （PC） stainless steel （SS）, molybdenum （Mo） and tungsten （W） were mounted at different locations in HT-7 tokamak to investigate the surface modifications caused by erosion and deposition. The optical transmission characteristics of first mirror samples were measured by a spectrophotometer. It was found that different irradiation environment had different influences on the first mirror surfaces, especially with wave antenna nearby. In addition, the erosion made the reflectivity of FM degrade to some extents as a whole. But the deposition on the mirror influences more than erosion does. Comparing the mirrors of SS, W and Mo, irradiated in the same environment, the W-mirror had the least changes in reflectivity with regularity, while the SS-mirror had most serious changes.     

The Solubility of Natural Cellulose After DBD Plasma Treatment

Natural cellulose was treated by an atmospheidc DBD plasma. The solubility of cellulose in a diluted alkaline solution after the plasma treatment was investigated. The properties were characterized by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy （XPS）, Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy （FTIR） and scanning electron microscopy （SEM）. The results indicated that the surface of cellulose treated by the argon DBD plasma was significantly etched, and the relevant force of hydrogen bonding was decreased. This might be the essential reason for the solubility improvement of natural cellulose in the diluted alkaline solution. Through a comparison of two discharge modes, the atmospheric DBD plasma gun and the parallel plate capacitively coupled DBD plasma, it was found that the atmospheric DBD plasma gun was more effective in fragmentizing the cellulose due to its production of a high energy plasma based on its special structure.     

MHD Effect of Liquid Metal Film Flows as Plasma-Facing Components

Stability of liquid metal film flow under gradient magnetic field is investigated. Three dimensional numerical simulations on magnetohydrodynamics （MHD） effect of free surface film flow were carried out, with emphasis on the film thickness variation and its surface stability. Three different MHD phenomena of film flow were observed in the experiment, namely, retardant, rivulet and flat film flow. From our experiment and numerical simulation it can be concluded that flat film flow is a good choice for plasma-facing components （PFCs）     

Experimental Study on Electrical Breakdown for Devices with Micrometer Gaps

The understanding of electrical breakdown in atmospheric air across micrometer gaps is critically important for the insulation design of micro ＆ nano electronic devices. In this paper, planar aluminum electrodes with gaps ranging from 2μm to 40 #m were fabricated by microelectromechanical system technology. The influence factors including gap width and surface dielectric states were experimentally investigated using the home-built test and measurement system. Results showed that for SiO2 layers the current sustained at 2-3 nA during most of the pre-breakdown period, and then rose rapidly to 10-30 nA just before breakdown due to field electron emission, followed by the breakdown. The breakdown voltage curves demonstrated three stages： （1） a constantly decreasing region （the gap width d 〈5 μm）, where the field emission effect played an important role just near breakdown, supplying enough initial electrons for the breakdown process; （2） a plateau region with a near constant breakdown potential （5 μm〈 d 〈10 μm）; （3） a region for large gaps that adhered to Paschen＇s curve （d 〉10μm）. And the surface dielectric states including the surface resistivity and secondary electron yield were verified to be related to the propagation of discharge due to the interaction between initial electrons and dielectrics.     

Surface Modification of Polyethylene （PE） Films Using Dielectric Barrier Discharge Plasma at Atmospheric Pressure

Modification of the surface properties of polyethylene （PE） films is studied using air dielectric barrier discharge at atmospheric pressure. The treated samples are examined by Water contact angle measurements, Fourier transform infrared attenuated total reflection spectroscopy （FTIR-ATR）, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy （XPS） and scanning electron microscopy （SEM）. With the increase in treating time, the water contact angle changes from 93.2° before treatment to a minimum of 53.3° after a treatment for 50 s. Both ATR and XPS results show some oxidized species are introduced into the sample surface by the plasma treatment and the tendency of the water contact angle with the treating time is the same as that of oxygen concentration on the treated sample surface. SEM result shows the surface roughness of PE samples increases with the treatment time increasing.     

Polymer Surface Treatment by Atmospheric Pressure Low Temperature Surface Discharge Plasma： Its Characteristics and Comparison with Low Pressure Oxygen Plasma Treatment

The polymer treatment with a low-temperature plasma jet generated on the atmospheric pressure surface discharge （SD） plasma is performed. The change of the surface property over time, in comparison with low pressure oxygen （O2） plasma treatment, is examined. As one compares the treatment by atmospheric pressure plasma to that by the low pressure O2 plasma of PS （polystyrene） the treatment effects were almost in complete agreement. However, when the atmospheric pressure plasma was used for PP（polypropylene）, it produced remarkable hydrophilic effects.     

Plasma Limiter Based on Surface Wave Plasma Excited by Microwave

A novel plasma limiter, in which the plasma is excited by surface wave, is presented. The breakdown time of some gases filled in the limiter were calculated as a function of gas pres- sure, ionization degree and density of seed electrons under low pressure （0.01 -1 Torr） and high pressure （10 -1000 Torr） cases. The results show that the limiter filled with Xe with a pressure of 0.9 Torr, seed electron density of 10^16 m^-3, and ionization degree of 10^-4, has a breakdown time of approximate 19.6 ns.     

SiOx Ink-Repellent Layer Deposited by Radio Frequency（RF） Plasmas in Continuous Wave and Pulse Mode

Low surface energy layers, proposed application for non-water printing in computer to plate （CTP） technology, are deposited in both continuous wave and pulse radio frequency （13.56 MHz） plasma with hexamethyldisiloxane （HMDSO） as precursor. It is found that the plasma mode dominates the polymer growth rate and the surface composition. Derived from the spectra of X-ruy photoelectron spectroscopy （XPS） and combined with printable test it is concluded that concentration of Si in coatings plays an important role for the ink printability and the ink does not adhere on the surface with high silicon concentration.     

Improving Hydrophobicity of Glass Surface Using Dielectric Barrier Discharge Treatment in Atmospheric Air

Non-thermal plasmas under atmospheric pressure are of great interest in industrial applications, especially in material surface treatment. In this paper, the treatment of a glass surface for improving hydrophobicity using the non-thermal plasma generated by dielectric barrier discharge （DBD） at atmospheric pressure in ambient air is conducted, and the surface properties of the glass before and after the DBD treatment are studied by using contact angle measurement, surface resistance measurement and wet flashover voltage tests. The effects of the applied voltage and time duration of DBD on the surface modification are studied, and the optimal conditions for the treatment are obtained. It is found that a layer of hydrophobic coating is formed on the glass surface after spraying a thin layer of silicone oil and undergoing the DBD treatment, and the improvement of hydrophobicity depends on DBD voltage and treating time. It seems that there exists an optimum treating time for a certain applied voltage of DBD during the surface treatment, The test results of thermal aging and chemical aging show that the hydrophobic layer has quite stable characteristics. The interaction mechanism between the DBD plasma and the glass surface is discussed. It is concluded that CHa and large molecule radicals can react with the radicals in the glass surface to replace OH, and the hydrophobicity of the glass surface is improved accordingly.     

Experimental Investigations on Trigger Characteristics of Pseudospark Switch Based on Surface Flashover Technology

A trigger device and a triggered pseudospark switch （TPSS） were designed based on surface flashover technology, in order to meet the requirements from present pulse power technology and pulse current test technology such as a long lifetime, reliability in a wide voltage range, a short delay time, as well as small delay jitters. The trigger devices were made from different dielectric materials, with their permittivities from tens to thousands. The trigger characteristics of TPSS were investigated. The results indicate that the high-dielectric trigger device shows better performance and higher emitted charge of the electron emission within all adjusted parameters including the gas pressure and applied voltage. For the dielectric material with relative permittivity εr of 3460, when the gas pressure is 7 Pa, the hold-off voltage of TPSS is 28 kV, the minimum trigger switch voltage drops to 128 V, the minimum discharging delay time and delay jitter are less than 35ns and 6ns, respectively, and the reliable operation can be reached within a very large range of charging voltage, between 0.46% and 99% of its self-breakdown voltage.     

Study on the Generation Characteristics of Dielectric Barrier Discharge Plasmas on Water Surface简

A new contact glow discharge electrode employed in this study. Because of the strong field the electrode and the water surface, glow discharge on the surface of water was designed and strength in the small air gap formed by plasmas were generated and used to treat waste water. The electric field distribution of the designed electrode model was simulated by MAXWELL 3D~ simulation software, and the discharge parameters were measured. Through a series of experiments, we investigated the impact of optimal designs, such as the dielectric of the electrode, immersion depths, and curvature radii of the electrode on the generation characteristics of plasmas. In addition, we designed an equipotential multi-electrode configuration to treat a Methyl Violet solution and observe the discoloration effect. The experimental and simulation results indicate that the designed electrodes can realize glow discharge with a relative low voltage, and the generated plasmas covered a large area and were in stable state. The efficiency of water treatment is improved and optimized with the designed electrodes.     

Diagnosis of Electronic Excitation Temperature in Surface Dielectric Barrier Discharge Plasmas at Atmospheric Pressure

The electronic excitation temperature of a surface dielectric barrier discharge （DBD） at atmospheric pressure has been experimentally investigated by optical emission spectroscopic measurements combined with numerical simulation. Experiments have been carried out to deter- mine the spatial distribution of electric field by using FEM software and the electronic excitation temperature in discharge by calculating ratio of two relative intensities of atomic spectral lines. In this work, we choose seven Ar atomic emission lines at 415.86 nm [（3s^23p^5）5p →（3s^23p^5）4s] and 706.7 nm, 714.7 nm, 738.4 nm, 751.5 nm, 794.8 nm and 800.6 nm [（3s^23p^5）4p → （3s^23p^5）4s] to estimate the excitation temperature under a Boltzmann approximation. The average electron energy is evaluated in each discharge by using line ratio of 337.1 nm （N2（C^3Пu →B3Пg）） to 391.4 nm （N2^＋（B2 ∑u^＋→ ∑g^＋））. Furthermore, variations of the electronic excitation tempera- ture are presented versus dielectric thickness and dielectric materials. The discharge is stable and uniform along the axial direction, and the electronic excitation temperature at the edge of the copper electrode is the largest. The corresponding average electron energy is in the range of 1.6- 5.1 eV and the electric field is in 1.7-3.2 MV/m, when the distance from copper electrode varies from 0 cm to 6 cm. Moreover, the electronic excitation temperature with a higher permittivity leads to a higher dissipated electrical power.