Darmstadt 2008 – scientific programme
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P: Fachverband Plasmaphysik
P II: Poster: Niedertemperaturplasmen, Plasmatechnologie
P II.1: Poster
Tuesday, March 11, 2008, 11:00–13:00, Poster C3
Comparison of NO concentration and UV emission in a N2/O2 RF discharge. — •Maalolan Ramanujam1,2, Jakob Barz1, Michael Mueller1, and Herwig Brunner1,2 — 1Fraunhofer Institue for Interfacial Engineering and Biotechnology, Nobelstr. 12, 70569 Stuttgart, Germany. — 2Institute for Interfacial Engineering (IGVT), Nobelstr. 12, 70569 Stuttgart, Germany.
Low temperature Plasmas have been used for microbial sterilization and depyrogenization applications. This effect is due to reactive species and UV radiation. This way, in principle, a broad range of thermolabile materials used for food packaging or microsurgical instruments can be sterilized. An effective source of UV radiation in the plasma is excited Nitric oxide (NO*), which is formed using Nitrogen and Oxygen as precursors in the plasma. A study was carried out to maximize the NO concentration and the determination of the UV emission intensity. The maximization of NO from N2/O2 plasma is determined using laser induced fluorescence. The UV emission was measured using optical emission spectroscopy. A Design of Experiments (DoE) study was performed to maximize the concentration of NO and UV emission by varying several plasma parameters like pressure, power and flows of the precursors. It was found that the NO concentration was maximum around 50% partial pressures of N2 and O2. Contrarily, the UV-C emission was maximum at a significant lower partial pressure of O2 (less than 20%). It is understood that at higher O2 concentrations the formation of NO is limited by a more pronounced formation of other Oxygen containing species like NO2 or O3