Dissertation Defense: Electric Field Measurements in Non-Equilibrium Electric Discharge Plasmas Using Picosecond Four Wave Mixing

Benjamin Goldberg, PhD Candidate, Mechanical Engineering

All dates for this event occur in the past.

E238 Scott Laboratory
E238 Scott Laboratory
201 W. 19th Ave.
Columbus, OH 43210
United States

Committee

Professor Igor Adamovich, Chair (ME)

Professor Vish Subramaniam (ME)

Professor Joseph Heremans (ME)

Professor Bill Rich (ME)

Abstract

Plasma discharges are used in many different daily life applications, such as plasma screen televisions, fluorescent light bulbs, spark plugs in internal combustion engines, and industrial scale ozone generation for water treatment and purification. Additionally, there has been recent development in new and exciting fields such as plasma assisted combustion and plasma medicine over the past two decades. One of the key quantities of interest in plasma research is the reduced electric field, which has been shown to govern plasma properties such as current through the discharge, mean electron energy, and the electron energy partition. Previous modelling results have shown that the electric field within the plasma changes on a subnanosecond time scale after breakdown, and thus a measurement technique is needed to take measurements on the same scale. To accomplish this goal, an optical technique, similar to coherent anti-Stokes Raman spectroscopy, has been used for measurements in several different discharge configurations.