Impact of radio frequency power on columnar and filamentary modes in atmospheric pressure very low frequency plasma within pores

Abstract The impact of radio frequency (RF) power on columnar and filamentary modes of very low frequency (VLF) plasma within pores is investigated in this work. The 12.5 kHz VLF discharge under various RF powers (13.56 MHz) was analyzed using optical photography and current-voltage measurements. Two-dimensional electron densities were derived using optical emission spectroscopy combined with collisional radiation modeling methods. It is found that RF power and VLF voltage ( V VLF ) significantly influence the plasma and its discharge modes within the 200 μ m pore. Under low V VLF conditions, the plasma is more intense within the pore, and the discharge mode is columnar discharge. With increasing RF power, the reciprocal motion of electrons counteracts the local enhancement effect of columnar discharge, the discharge transforms into RF discharge, the pore is completely wrapped by the sheath, and the plasma inside is gradually quenched. Under high V VLF conditions, the electron density within the pore is low and the discharge mode is filamentary discharge. RF introduction reduces plasma intensity within the pores firstly. As RF power increases, more ion trapping in the pore increases the field strength distortion and enhances the plasma intensity inside the pore, this enhancement effects becomes more obvious with increasing RF power. In addition, the above effects were observed for all pore widths from 100 µ m to 1000 µ m. These findings provide key insights for controlling plasma in pores and offer new methodologies for plasma technology applications.