Assembly and Characterization of 10 cm × 10 cm Cold Atmospheric Pressure Plasma Device

The primary purpose of this thesis is to assemble, demonstrate, and characterize a Cold Atmospheric Pressure dielectric barrier discharge plasma array of large active plasma discharge region (10 cm × 10 cm). The array is fabricated using the Low Temperature Co-Fired Ceramic (LTCC) dielectric material system and silver paste in printing electrodes. It is important to find the optimal operating parameters of the device to achieve uniform emission and to achieve the best response out of the device, which is the main focus of this thesis. The device is assembled from 43 linear discharge elements. Several I-V sweep measurements, capacitance measurements, and gas flow uniformity tests for different configurations have been conducted for device characterization. Various ballast resistor values are tested for better plasma uniformity and to reach saturation operation. Gas flow uniformity throughout the device is very crucial because it ensures better plasma. Multiple showerheads have been studied along with adjusting the device enclosure design to serve that purpose. The final optimized CAP (10 cm × 10 cm) device parameters were 1.46 kVrms, 178 mArms, 18.9 kHz resonant frequency, 20 kΩ ballast resistor on both sides, 130 LPM of argon gas. In terms of building a better performing device, several stages of modification were performed on the array parts to reduce the possibility of arc and damage to the device. Several preliminary experiments with the big (10 cm × 10 cm) plasma device to inactivate biofilm (Pseudomonas fluorescens) were conducted on various surfaces (Steel, High pressure laminate) and more than 91% biofilm reduction was observed after plasma treatment.