Selectively igniting plasmas in air at atmospheric pressure through time-reversal of microwaves

Methods that could enable the generation of plasmas in air, at atmospheric pressure, and with the ability to precisely target where and when the plasmas are created are of great interest to domains such as fuel combustion. In this study, we show experimentally that this can be achieved by focusing nanosecond pulses through time reversal (TR) on split-ring resonator initiators. The choice of the TR signal determines the initiator on which the plasma is created. The role of the initiator in reaching the required gas breakdown field, the influence of the TR pulse duration and the electrical signature of the plasma on the received signal are also briefly investigated.