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Design of a compact quarter wave coaxial cavity resonator for plasma ignition applications

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  12 May 2011

Franz A. Pertl ,
Mary Ann Clarke  and
James E. Smith
Franz A. Pertl*
Affiliation:
Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV 26506, USA. Phone: + 1 304 293 3256.
Mary Ann Clarke
Affiliation:
Department of Mathematics, West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV 26506, USA.
James E. Smith
Affiliation:
Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV 26506, USA. Phone: + 1 304 293 3256.
*
Corresponding author: F. A. Pertl Email: [email protected]
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Abstract

Atmospheric and higher pressure RF and microwave plasma sources have numerous applications including material processing and spectroscopy. More recently, advantages in using such discharges for combustion ignition are being investigated. A particularly simple and compact microwave discharge generating device is the quarter wave coaxial cavity resonator (QWCCR). This paper presents a new, compacted design of such a device. A simple approximate analysis of the quality factor, Q, which is a measure of the resonant electromagnetic potential step-up capability is given, and compared to experimentally measured quality factors showing reasonable agreement. Analytic results indicate that the foreshortened folded cavity quality factors are comparable to tapered coaxial cavity designs.

Keywords

microwave plasma ignitionmicrowave cavityquarter wave coaxial cavity resonator
Type
Industrial and Engineering Papers
Information
International Journal of Microwave and Wireless Technologies , Volume 3 , Issue 4 , August 2011 , pp. 485 - 491
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press and the European Microwave Association 2011

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References

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