[Experimental investigation on micro-hollow cathode sustained discharge]

Based on micro-hollow cathode discharge (MHCD) as a plasma cathode, a second anode was added to the device for obtaining large volume and uniform plasma at high pressure. The discharge producing condition of MCSD was investigated in the experiments. And the rotational structures of the N2 first positive bands were analyzed with traces of nitrogen added in argon for the measurements of the gas temperature in the MCSD plume. The experimental results show that when the current of the plasma cathode exceeds the threshold, the large volume stable plasma is generated. The gas temperature in the plume is increased a little with increasing the current (0.5-4 mA) and is about 500 K at the pressure of 50 Torr.