Chaplynskyi R. Sources of non-thermal plasma at atmospheric pressure and their application

The dissertation examined discharge sources of nonthermal plasma at atmospheric pressure and their use for the generation of ozone, carbon monoxide neutralization, in liquid crystal display technology and nanosphere lithography. It has been shown that sources on the base of RF barrier discharge with a three-electrode system are desirable to produce nonthermal plasma at atmospheric pressure. It was theoretically established that near-electrode space-charge layers in low-current mode of argon barrier RF discharge at atmospheric pressure are thicker than in an argon RF discharge with bare metal electrodes. It was established theoretically and experimentally that during transition between low current and high current modes of the RF discharge in argon at atmospheric pressure the structures, typical for both the low-current and high-current regimes, locally coexist. The fundamental electrical characteristics of the RF barrier discharge were measured in wide range of currents and voltages. It was experimentally found that treatment of polyimide films by the flat plasma flow from RF argon discharge at atmospheric pressure induces orientation of nematic liquid crystals and reactive mesogens and reduces size of the polypropylene nanospheres in nanosphear lithography. As a result of work, the algorithm for calculation of electrical characteristics of the RF argon barrier discharge, sources of nonequilibrium plasma at atmospheric pressure, based on a three-electrode RF barrier discharge, low-frequency multi-corona, planar and volumetric barrier discharges were created.