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<p>As electronic device dimensions decrease to micro and nanoscale, Paschen’s law (PL)—the standard theory used to predict breakdown voltage (<i>V_b</i>) governed by Townsend avalanche (TA)—fails due to ion-enhanced field emission (FE). Analytic models to predict <i>V_b</i>at these scales are necessary to elucidate the underlying physics driving breakdown and electron emission in these regimes. Starting from a previously-derived breakdown criterion coupling TA and FE, this dissertation derives a universal (true for any gas) breakdown equation. Further simplifying this equation using a matched asymptotic analysis, dependent on the product of the ionization coefficient and the gap distance, yields an analytic theory for dimensionless <i>V_b</i>. This analytic model unifies the coupled FE/TA regime to a universal PL derived by applying scaling parameters to the standard PL. This model enables parametric analyses to assess the effects of different parameters (such as pressure, gap distance, and field enhancement factor) on breakdown and quantify the relative contribution of FE and TA to identify the transition to the universal PL. This dissertation applies this general theory to experimental cases of different gap width, gap pressure and electrode surface roughness before exploring unification across electron emission regimes, validation with molecular dynamics simulations, and extensions to alternating current (AC).</p> <p> </p> <p>One application of this theory to experimental data used data from a collaborator at Xi’an Jiaotong University, who used an electrical-optical measurement system to measure the breakdown voltage and determine breakdown morphology as a function of gap width. An empirical fit showed that the breakdown voltage varied linearly with gap distance at smaller gaps as in vacuum breakdown. This dissertation demonstrates that applying the matched asymptotic theory in the appropriate limits recovers this scaling with the slope as a function of field emission properties. </p> <p> </p> <p>Pressure also plays a critical role in gas breakdown behavior. This dissertation derives a new analytic equation that predicts breakdown voltage <i>V_b</i> within 4% of the exact numerical results of the exact theory and new experimental results at subatmospheric pressure for gap distances from 1-25 . At atmospheric pressure, <i>V_b</i> transitions to PL near the product of pressure and gap distance, <i>pd</i>, corresponding to the Paschen minimum; at lower pressures, the transition to PL occurs to the left of the minimum. We further show that the work function plays a major role in determining whether <i>V_b</i> transitions from the coupled FE/TA equation back to the traditional PL to the right or the left of the Paschen minimum as pressure increases, while field enhancement and the secondary emission coefficient play smaller roles. These results indicate that appropriate combinations of these parameters cause <i>V_b</i> to transition to PL to the left of the Paschen minimum, which would yield an extended plateau similar to some microscale gas breakdown experimental observations. </p> <p> </p> <p>Finally, the importance of electrode surface structure on microscale gas breakdown remains poorly understand. This dissertation provides the next step at assessing this by applying the asymptotic theory to microscale gas breakdown measurements for a pin-to-plate electrode setup in air at atmospheric pressure with different cathode surface roughness. Multiple discharges created circular craters on the flat cathode up to 40 μm deep with more pronounced craters created at smaller gap sizes and greater cathode surface roughness. The theory showed that breakdown voltage and ionization coefficient for subsequent breakdown events followed our earlier breakdown theory when we replaced the gap distance <i>d</i> with an effective gap distance <i>d_eff</i> defined as the sum of cathode placement distance and crater depth. Moreover, the theory indicated that <i>d_eff</i> could become sufficient large to exceed the Meek criterion for streamer formation, motivating future studies to assess whether the cathode damage could drive changes in the breakdown mechanism could for a single electrode separation distance or the Meek criterion requires modification at microscale. </p> <p> </p> <p>We next unified field emission with other electron emission mechanisms, including Mott-Gurney (MG), Child-Langmuir (CL), and quantum space-charge-limited current (QSCL) to develop a common framework for characterizing electron emission from nanoscale to the classical PL. This approach reproduced the conditions for transitions across multiple mechanisms, such as QSCL to CL, CL to FE, CL to MG to FE, and microscale gas breakdown to PL using a common nondimensional framework. Furthermore, we demonstrated the conditions for more complicated nexuses where multiple asymptotic solutions matched, such as matching QSCL, CSCL, MG, and FE to gas breakdown. A unified model for radiofrequency and microwave gas breakdown will be compared to experimental results from Purdue University to elucidate breakdown mechanism. </p> <p>The results from this dissertation will have applications in microscale gas breakdown for applications including microelectromechanical system design, combustion, environmental mitigation, carbon nanotube emission for directed energy systems, and characterizing breakdown in accelerators and fusion devices.</p>

A validation study was performed on a capacitively coupled argon discharge to determine the most suitable models for chemistry and electron transport. Chemical reaction rate and electron transport models choices include equilibrium or non-equilibrium electron EDFs. Experimental studies performed by our collaborative partners in the Colorado School of Mines. Conditions for the studies are 138, 315, and 618 mTorr where the cycle averaged power varied at 20, 50, and 80 Watts in which the voltage supply was driven at 13.56 MHz. Simulations were performed using pressures and voltage used in experiments. The most accurate case was for 138 mTorr at 50 Watts using a non-Maxwellian EDF based chemistry (called Bolsig+ chemistry) and a constant electron momentum transfer cross section of 20 Angstroms which was computed from Boeuf’s paper; this model accurately modeled power deposition to within 2.6%. Furthermore, species number densities, electron temperature, and sheath thicknesses are obtained. Using Bolsig+ chemistry resulted in 20,000K higher electron temperatures than using Arrhenius chemistry rates. Results indicate that power deposition occurs due to electrons gaining energy from the sheath which in turn bombard neutral species producing metastable argon. / text

In this Ph.D. thesis, we have carried out 2D numerical simulations to study the influence of dielectric surfaces on the propagation dynamics of plasma discharges at atmospheric pressure. First we have improved the computational efficiency of the discharge code used in this work in implementing parallelization techniques and more efficient numerical schemes. Second we have studied the dynamics of an air discharge at atmospheric pressure in a point-to-plane geometry with a dielectric layer on the cathode plane. Then, we have studied the influence of a dielectric layer obstacle in the inter-electrode gap. We have shown that depending on the characteristics of the dielectric layer and the amplitude and polarity of the applied voltage, a second discharge may reignite or not below the dielectric in the second air gap. The comparison of simulation results with experiments has shown that in a point-to-plane geometry with a sharp point and a high over-voltage, a single conical discharge structure is observed. A good agreement on the discharge diameter and propagation velocity has been obtained. With a dielectric obstacle in the gap, the simulated reignition dynamics is faster than in the experiments. To improve the agreement, we have studied the influence of several physico-chemical processes. Finally, we have studied the dynamics of discharges in dielectric tubes at atmospheric pressure. For a He -N2 mixture, we have put forward the importance of three body reactions. Last, the influence of the tube radius on the structure of discharges in He - N2 and air is discussed.

Dans cette thèse nous avons étudié l'influence de surfaces diélectriques sur la dynamique de propagation de décharges à pression atmosphérique. Tout d'abord, pour les simulations 2D réalisées dans ce travail, nous avons optimisé les performances du code de décharge en utilisant des schémas numériques performants et des techniques de parallélisation. Nous avons ensuite étudié la dynamique de propagation d'une décharge dans l'air à pression atmosphérique dans une géométrie pointe-plan avec un plan diélectrique sur la cathode. Puis, nous avons étudié l'influence d'un obstacle plan diélectrique sur la dynamique de propagation d'une décharge. Nous avons montré que selon les caractéristiques du diélectrique, l'amplitude et la polarité de la tension appliquée, une seconde décharge peut s'initier ou pas dans l'air derrière le diélectrique. La comparaison des résultats avec les expériences a montré que dans une géométrie pointe-plan avec une pointe fine et une tension très élevée, une seule décharge de forme conique est observée. Un bon accord est obtenu sur le diamètre de la décharge et sa vitesse de propagation. Avec un obstacle plan diélectrique entre les électrodes, la dynamique de ré-allumage est plus rapide dans les simulations. Pour améliorer la comparaison avec les expériences, nous avons étudié l'influence de plusieurs processus physico-chimiques. Pour finir, nous avons étudié la dynamique de décharges à pression atmosphérique dans des tubes diélectriques. Pour un mélange He-N2, nous avons montré l'importance des réactions à trois corps. Enfin, nous avons montré l'influence du diamètre du tube sur la structure des décharges dans un mélange He - N2 et dans l'air. / In this Ph.D. thesis, we have carried out 2D numerical simulations to study the influence of dielectric surfaces on the propagation dynamics of plasma discharges at atmospheric pressure. First we have improved the computational efficiency of the discharge code used in this work in implementing parallelization techniques and more efficient numerical schemes. Second we have studied the dynamics of an air discharge at atmospheric pressure in a point-to-plane geometry with a dielectric layer on the cathode plane. Then, we have studied the influence of a dielectric layer obstacle in the inter-electrode gap. We have shown that depending on the characteristics of the dielectric layer and the amplitude and polarity of the applied voltage, a second discharge may reignite or not below the dielectric in the second air gap. The comparison of simulation results with experiments has shown that in a point-to-plane geometry with a sharp point and a high over-voltage, a single conical discharge structure is observed. A good agreement on the discharge diameter and propagation velocity has been obtained. With a dielectric obstacle in the gap, the simulated reignition dynamics is faster than in the experiments. To improve the agreement, we have studied the influence of several physico-chemical processes. Finally, we have studied the dynamics of discharges in dielectric tubes at atmospheric pressure. For a He -N2 mixture, we have put forward the importance of three body reactions. Last, the influence of the tube radius on the structure of discharges in He - N2 and air is discussed.

L’analyse des gaz d’échappement des moteurs à combustion interne a été traditionnellement réalisée en laboratoires en utilisant des analyseurs de gaz en vrac avec des équipements coûteux. Afin de créer un système capable de réaliser le travail de ces analyseurs, un capteur pouvant détecter plusieurs gaz simultanément est indispensable pour en mesurer la concentration. En effet, utiliser un capteur pour chaque gaz est couteux et peut amener à des procédures complexes d’analyse en raison des différentes technologies utilisées. De plus, l’utilisation de multiples capteurs donne lieu à une perte de ressources financières et humaines. Pour pallier ce problème, une approche alternative proposée dans cette thèse consiste à utiliser un seul capteur pour l’analyse simultanée des différents gaz. Cette approche contribue à réduire la complexité des analyses, la taille et la collecte de données des mesures de gaz mentionnés précédemment. Elle permet également la baisse du coût de l’ensemble du système des mesures.Cette thèse présente la conception, la méthodologie et le développement d’une nouvelle approche pour la mesure de la concentration de gaz utilisant le traitement d’images numériques à travers la modélisation du mélange des couleurs d’émission de lumière dans le tube de décharge de gaz. L’application du modèle inverse permet d’obtenir le pourcentage de chaque gaz dans un mélange contenant jusqu'à quatre gaz connaissant la couleur d’émission du mélange et la couleur d’émission de chaque gaz. Nous discutons aussi le potentiel de certaines méthodes quant à leurs propriétés de miniaturisation et leurs limites. Une comparaison entre les différents capteurs miniaturisés est réalisée en termes suivant la sensibilité, la sélectivité, le coût et d’autres conditions. Pour atteindre les objectifs de recherche, les problèmes techniques rencontrés tels que la modélisation de mélange des couleurs, l’étalonnage de capteurs pour l’acquisition d’images, et le traitement des erreurs de mesures ont été identifiés et des solutions ont été proposées. / Gases represent one of the most important key measurands in many industrial and domestic activities. The need to detect single gas or a group of gases at the same time varies from one application to another. One of the most important applications of gas sensing is in the concentration measurement of exhaust emissions in internal combustion engines. The variety of gases emitted by these engines and the necessity for a precise measurement of their concentrations are the major incentives for researchers to develop gas sensors that are not only limited to a certain type of gases but to a variety of gases. The most interest gases include CO, NO, NO2, NH4, SO2, CO2, CH4 and other hydrocarbons. These gases can be harmful to human health if present beyond a certain concentration. The analysis of exhaust emissions of internal combustion engines has traditionally been achieved in laboratories using bulk gas analyzers and costly equipments. In order to create a system which can do the work of these analyzers, a sensor that can measure the concentration of multiple gases at the same time is needed. Instead of using a sensor for each gas which is costly and introduce another complexity to the analysis procedure due to the different technologies that are used in the detection of different types of gases. This directly translates into loss of financial and human resources that could otherwise be productively used. In an effort to remedy this situation, this dissertation proposes an alternate approach that uses one sensor to analyze multiple gases simultaneously. This has a significant potential in reducing the aforementioned complexity, size and data collection tasks, and at the same time can lower the cost of the overall system.This dissertation presents the design, methodology, and development of a new method for gas concentration measurement using digital image processing through modeling the color mixing of light emissions in gas discharge tube. The application of the inverse model allows us to get the percentages of each gas in a mixture of up to four gases knowing already the color of emission of the whole mixture and the color of emission of each gas alone. It also discusses the miniaturization potential of some of the methods that are promising in the ability of their miniaturization but suffer from different problems. A comparison is also done among the miniaturized sensors in terms of different parameters like sensitivity, selectivity, cost and other terms. In achieving the research objectives, major technical challenges such as color mixing modeling, imaging sensor calibration, and measurements’ error handling have been successfully identified and addressed.

Dentre as técnicas de modificação de propriedades das superfícies aplicadas na indústria, o tratamento por plasma é amplamente utilizado. Diversos estudos têm sido realizados, sobretudo na última década, analisando artigos têxteis de diferentes fibras quanto a melhoria das funcionalidades. O objetivo deste trabalho é estudar comparativamente as propriedades de umectação de tecidos de malha de poliamida 6.6 com elastano antes e após aplicação de descarga plasmática de dupla barreira dielétrica. As malhas foram fabricadas utilizando-se como matérias-primas fios e poliamida e de elastano. Os tecidos receberam a aplicação do tratamento de plasma, com potências de 1,2 e 1,5 kW. Foram realizadas três leituras de ângulo de contato dinâmico: logo após o tratamento, 2 horas após o tratamento e 24 horas após o tratamento. Foi feita uma única leitura em uma das amostras antes de submetê-la ao tratamento (controle). No tingimento das amostras foram utilizados corantes ácidos e reativos e realizados ensaios de solidez à lavagem e solidez da cor à lavagem doméstica. Observou-se uma redução significativa no valor do ângulo de contato das amostras tratadas com plasma, aumentando a capacidade de absorção do tecido de malha / Among the surfaces of the property modifying techniques used in the industry, plasma treatment is widely used. Several studies have been conducted, especially in the last decade, analyzing textiles articles of different fibers and improved features. The target of this job is study comparatively the wetting properties of polyamide 6.6 knitted fabrics with spandex before and after application of plasma discharge double dielectric barrier. The knitting were produced using as raw materials polyamide yarn and elastane. Fabrics received application of plasma treatment with potencies of 1.2 and 1.5 kW. three readings dynamic contact angle were made: immediately after treatment, 2 hours after treatment and 24 hours after treatment. a single reading was done on a sample before submitting it to treatment (control). In the dyeing of the samples were used acids and reactive dyes and performed strength tests to washing and color fastness to domestic laundering. a significant decrease was observed in the value of the contact angle of the samples treated with plasma, increasing the absorption capacity of the knitting fabric

An aim of this work is a research of a deposition process of indium tin oxide by plasma assisted methods. The thesis deals with plasma diagnostics, e.g. Langmuir probe diagnostics and optical emission spectroscopy, as well as describes experiments of film deposition including their diagnostics, e.g. absorption spectroscopy, X-ray diffractometry and atomic force microscopy.

Les décharges plasma dans la vapeur d’eau sont d’un grand intérêt pour de nombreuses applications potentielles, telles que le traitement biomédical, la production d’hydrogène ou la combustion assistée par plasma. Cette thèse propose une caractérisation expérimentale détaillée de l’effet thermique et chimique des décharges non-thermique nanosecondes répétitives pulsées (NRP) à la pression atmosphérique dans la vapeur d’eau pure. Un réacteur a été conçu pour fonctionner avec la vapeur d’eau préchauffée à 400-500 K. Les conditions opératoires retenues sont un débit de 300 g/h à 500 K et une décharge avec une énergie moyenne de 20 à 100 W, en régime Spark. Différents diagnostics ont été développés afin de déterminer les produits de cette décharge en termes d’espèces intermédiaires, de densité électronique et des produits stables. La concentration des produits de réaction stables (H2 et O2) et leurs débits respectifs ont été mesurés par chromatographie en phase gazeuse. Une valeur maximale de 0,85 g-H2/kWh a été obtenue. La densité électronique a été mesurée par spectroscopie d’émission optique (OES) résolue en temps grâce à l’élargissement par effet Stark des raies (H, H et O). La densité électronique maximale mesurée est 2X1018 cm-3 pendant l’impulsion. La température du gaz a été mesurée lors de la décharge de 20 ns par OES ainsi que entre deux décharges (100 us) par fluorescence induite par laser du radical OH (OH-PLIF) à deux couleurs. L’élévation maximale de la température est de 950 K après l’impulsion, et la température décroît ensuite de façon exponentielle avec un temps de décroissance caractéristique de 5 us. La densité relative du radical OH a été mesurée par OH-PLIF, révélant la durée de vie relativement longue de OH avec un temps de décroissance d’environ 50 us. En utilisant un modèle cinétique 0-D, la densité absolue OH à la fin de l’impulsion a été estimée à 400 plus ou moins 200 ppm. Les résultats obtenus ont permis d’éclairer les mécanismes sous-jacents à la génération de décharges NRP en régime Spark dans la vapeur d’eau pure à basse température. / Plasma discharges in water vapor are of great interest for a variety of potential applications, such as biomedical treatment, hydrogen production, or plasma assisted combustion. This thesis proposes a detailed experimental characterization of the thermal and chemical effects of non thermal discharge, particularly Nanosecond Repetitively Pulsed (NRP) discharges at atmospheric pressure in pure water vapor. A reactor has been designed to operate with water vapor preheated at 400-500 K. We investigated the various discharge regimes and the operating conditions for each regime. The selected operating conditions are a flow rate of 300 g/h at 500 K. The discharge has an average energy from 20 to 100 W in the spark regime. Various diagnostics have been developed in order to infer the products of this discharge in terms of intermediate species, electrons, and stable products. The concentration of the reaction products (H2 and O2) and their respective flow rates were measured using gas chromatography. A maximal value of 0.85 g- H2/kWh was obtained. The electron number density has been measured using time-resolved optical emission spectroscopy (OES) via Stark-broadened lines (H, H and O). The maximum measured electron density is 2X1018 cm-3 during the pulse, and a slow recombination process was observed. The gas temperature was measured during the 20-ns discharge by OES as well as between two discharges (100 us) by two-color OH-Planar Laser Induced Fluorescence (OH-PLIF). The maximum temperature elevation is 950 K after the pulse ; the temperature then decays exponentially with a characteristic time of 5 us. Between two successive discharges, the relative density of the OH radical was measured by OH-PLIF. An interesting result is the relatively long-lived nature of OH, with a 1/e decay time of about 50 us. Using a 0D-chemical kinetics model, the absolute OH density at the end of the pulse was estimated to 400 more or less 200 ppm. These results provide useful information to better understand the mechanisms underlying the generation of NRP spark discharges in low temperature pure water vapor.

Dentre as técnicas de modificação de propriedades das superfícies aplicadas na indústria, o tratamento por plasma é amplamente utilizado. Diversos estudos têm sido realizados, sobretudo na última década, analisando artigos têxteis de diferentes fibras quanto a melhoria das funcionalidades. O objetivo deste trabalho é estudar comparativamente as propriedades de umectação de tecidos de malha de poliamida 6.6 com elastano antes e após aplicação de descarga plasmática de dupla barreira dielétrica. As malhas foram fabricadas utilizando-se como matérias-primas fios e poliamida e de elastano. Os tecidos receberam a aplicação do tratamento de plasma, com potências de 1,2 e 1,5 kW. Foram realizadas três leituras de ângulo de contato dinâmico: logo após o tratamento, 2 horas após o tratamento e 24 horas após o tratamento. Foi feita uma única leitura em uma das amostras antes de submetê-la ao tratamento (controle). No tingimento das amostras foram utilizados corantes ácidos e reativos e realizados ensaios de solidez à lavagem e solidez da cor à lavagem doméstica. Observou-se uma redução significativa no valor do ângulo de contato das amostras tratadas com plasma, aumentando a capacidade de absorção do tecido de malha / Among the surfaces of the property modifying techniques used in the industry, plasma treatment is widely used. Several studies have been conducted, especially in the last decade, analyzing textiles articles of different fibers and improved features. The target of this job is study comparatively the wetting properties of polyamide 6.6 knitted fabrics with spandex before and after application of plasma discharge double dielectric barrier. The knitting were produced using as raw materials polyamide yarn and elastane. Fabrics received application of plasma treatment with potencies of 1.2 and 1.5 kW. three readings dynamic contact angle were made: immediately after treatment, 2 hours after treatment and 24 hours after treatment. a single reading was done on a sample before submitting it to treatment (control). In the dyeing of the samples were used acids and reactive dyes and performed strength tests to washing and color fastness to domestic laundering. a significant decrease was observed in the value of the contact angle of the samples treated with plasma, increasing the absorption capacity of the knitting fabric