Influence of oxygen addition on the discharge characteristics of an argon plasma jet at atmospheric pressure

Plasma jet is an important low-temperature plasma source in extensive application fields. To promote the production of active oxygen species, oxygen is often introduced into the inert working gas. However, the influence of oxygen content on the discharge characteristics of an argon plasma jet is not clear. Aim to this status, an argon plasma jet in a single-electrode geometry is employed to investigate the influence of oxygen concentration (C_O) on discharge aspects. Results indicate that with increasing C_O (≤ 0.6%), the plume transits from a diffuse morphology to a hollow structure. Electrical and optical measurements reveal that both discharge number per voltage cycle and pulse intensity alter with varying C_O. Moreover, discharge morphologies of negative and positive discharges obtained by fast photograph also shift with varying C_O. Besides, optical emission spectra are collected to investigate atomic C_O, electron density, and electron temperature. The results mentioned above are explained qualitatively, which are believed to be of great significance for the applications of atmospheric pressure plasma jet.