title: Low-pressure DC air plasmas. investigation of neutral and ion chemistry.
abstract: The neutral and charged species present in a direct current (dc) hollow cathode, gas flow, air reactor are experimentally studied by quadrupole mass spectrometry. The degree of ionization of the plasma and the electron mean temperature with decreasing air pressure, for constant discharge current, are measured with a double Langmuir probe. The chemical composition of the plasma changes appreciably over the 3 x 10(-3) to 5 x 10(-2) mbar range investigated: at the lowest pressures studied, O2 dissociation is up to 60% and the concentration of NO is half that of N2; concerning ions, NO+ and N2+ are dominant for the whole pressure range. A kinetic model of the plasma including electrons, neutrals, and positive ions is developed to account for the experimental observations; it is consistent with energy balance and predicts that heterogeneous processes are the main source of NO and that the contribution of ions to the global chemistry of neutrals is of minor significance even for the lowest pressures.
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Estructura de la Materia (CSIC), Serrano 123, 28006 Madrid, Spain.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Castillo
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Méndez
authors.forename: A M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Islyaikin
authors.forename: V J
authors.initials: VJ
authors.lastname: Herrero
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Tanarro
mesh_terms: D000388:Air; D004583:Electrons; D007477:Ions / Q000737:chemistry*; D007700:Kinetics; D013058:Mass Spectrometry; D011312:Pressure
chemical_list: D007477:Ions