Tutorial: Electrical measurements in nanosecond pulsed plasma reactors

Researchers in the Aerospace Plasma Group provide a background on the mathematics of transmission line theory, a tutorial on how to take electrical measurements for NPDs, including multiple configurations of current and voltage probes, and a publicly available numerical tool that predicts voltage and current reflections in coaxial cables.

Authors: Colin Pavan, Sankarsh Rao, Carmen Guerra-Garcia
Citation: Journal of Physics D: Applied Physics

Abstract:
This tutorial is intended to provide an introduction to Transmission Line Theory (telegrapher’s equations) as the mathematical background needed to correctly perform and interpret electrical measurements in nanosecond pulsed plasma reactors. The mathematical framework is implemented in a numerical tool called VI-View which is made available to the community to aid with the interpretation of electrical measurements and help explain discrepancies between different experimental arrangements and probe configurations. A series of user case studies are presented that summarize best practices when performing electrical and energy measurements in nanosecond pulsed discharge reactors. Electrical measurements should always be included as part of the roster of diagnostics in nanosecond pulsed discharge experiments and become particularly useful for industry-relevant setups, where other diagnostics may be difficult to deploy.