OPTOELECTRONICS AND ADVANCED MATERIALS-RAPID COMMUNICATIONS, vol.6, pp.947-952, 2012 (SCI-Expanded)
Microdischarges in spatially confined geometries, such as micropores of zeolite materials, present a promising method for the generation and maintenance of stable discharges up to atmospheric pressure. A zeolite plate with push contacts is placed in a chamber filled with air at a controllable pressure, and the current-voltage characteristics of the zeolite plate are measured as a function of the air pressure. The paper presents relatively new type of discharge in confined volumes - a micropores microdischarge in zeolite and describes their basic physical properties and mechanisms. Gas discharge light emission inside the microporous zeolites develop from the surface if the amplitude of the applied voltage reaches given threshold. Discharge inside the micropores of zeolite framework is produced by DC power supply and produce relatively cold microplasmas with high level of non-equilibrium with no instabilities. It is found that the gas in zeolite pores ionizes and, accordingly, the number of electrons in the pores grows. It is shown that such a zeolite plate used as a cathode in a planar gas discharge cell considerably reduces the ignition voltage of the gas discharge. The basic characteristics of the microdischarges, addressing the effects of the applied voltage, discharge power, length and diameter gas discharge gap are discussed.