Direct current plasma jet needle source

Direct current plasma jet source operated in a glow regime is studied by applying nitrogen as a feed gas. This plasma jet generates fluxes of atoms, which are produced in the small region near the cathode tip characterized by high luminosity and a high dissociation rate of molecules. The nitrogen atoms carried away from this region by the feed gas flow form the narrow effluent of the plasma jet source. The gas temperature in the effluent flow is lower than 400 K despite the relatively high temperature of up to 950 K in the active plasma zone near the cathode tip.