Official websites use. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites. Single frequency, geometrically symmetric Radio-Frequency rf driven atmospheric pressure plasmas exhibit temporally and spatially symmetric patterns of electron heating, and consequently, charged particle densities and fluxes.
Using a combination of phase-resolved optical emission spectroscopy and kinetic plasma simulations, we demonstrate that tailored voltage waveforms consisting of multiple rf harmonics induce targeted disruption of these symmetries. This confines the electron heating to small regions of time and space and enables the electron energy distribution function to be tailored.
Non-thermal Atmospheric Pressure Plasmas APPs exhibit highly non-equilibrium electron dynamics, driven by complex spatio-temporal patterns of electron heating [ 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 ]. In geometrically symmetric systems, the sinusoidal Radio-Frequency rf voltages often used to drive APPs mean that these patterns are temporally and spatially symmetric.
The distinct structure of the electron heating imposed by these symmetries constrains the degree to which the electron properties in APPs can be influenced by their operating conditions.
APPs driven by multi-frequency voltage waveforms have previously been investigated using fluid simulations and experimental measurements [ 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 , 10 , 11 , 12 ].
