Study of vacuum arc plasma transport characteristics during the DC interrupting process

The mechanical DC vacuum circuit breaker based on forced-over-zero technology will inevitably generate vacuum arc during the actual interrupting process. Since the current drop frequency is usually very high, the vacuum arc usually exhibits obvious transient characteristics, and the excessive transient characteristics may even become a key factor limiting the interruption capacity. In order to improve the mechanical DC vacuum circuit breaker arc interrupting capability, this paper establishes a vacuum arc transient magneto-hydrodynamic simulation model in the DC interrupting process and studies the plasma transport characteristics of the vacuum arc under different DC interrupting conditions. The results show that the ion pressure, ion density and ion temperature decrease with decreasing arc current, while the ion velocity gradually increases during the DC interrupting process. The increase in breaking current and current drop frequency will increase the ion density in the arc column at the moment of current crossing zero, resulting in more difficult vacuum arc interrupting. The results of the study can provide an important theoretical basis for a deeper understanding of the vacuum arc transient process in the DC interrupting process and improve the DC vacuum circuit breaker arc interruption capability.

Decoupling of dust cloud and embedding plasma for high electron depletion in nanodusty plasmas

In recent years nanoparticles (nps) have become key technological products, e.g. as coatings with tunable optical gap in third generation solar cells, as nanocrystals for photonic applications, and as pharmaceutical nanocarriers. In particle sources, that use reactive, nanodusty plasmas, a high dust density changes the properties of the dusty plasma compared to a dust free plasma considerably, as the electron depletion leads to a reduced number of free electrons. This is called the Havnes effect and was central for the understanding of the famous spokes in Saturns rings. We see here, that it is also important for technological applications. Using self excited dust density waves (DDW) as a diagnostic tool, it is possible for the first time, to completely characterize an argon discharge with embedded amorphous hydrocarbon nps of different size and density. The results show, that electron depletion governs the charge of dust grains, while the size of the particles has only a weak influence. The ion density and electric potential profile are almost independent of both, dust size as well as dust density. This suggests, that the rf generated plasma and the dust cloud coexist and coupling of both is weak.

Assessment of the impact of kinetic effect of ion parallel heat conduction on DEMO relevant SOL plasma using integrated SOL-divertor code SONIC

In plasmas of relatively lower collisionality, such as scrape-off layer (SOL) of fusion tokamak device, parallel heat conductivity of plasma ion becomes smaller than expected by the classical Spitzer-Harm model due to nonlocal kinetic effect. We have assessed, by simulation, impact and role of such kinetic effect of ion heat conductivity (abbreviated by ion KE in this paper) on DEMO relevant tokamak SOL plasma, supposing Japanese demonstration tokamak reactor concept JA DEMO. A series of test simulation, where the ion KE is modeled by a widely used Free-streaming energy (FSE) limited model, has demonstrated the following significant impact of the ion KE on JA DEMO SOL plasma at the baseline operation scenario: (1) the ion KE decreases the ion parallel heat flux density around X-point and further upstream of low field side (LFS) area along the separatrix, where the parallel collisionality tends to decrease due to combination of higher temperature, lower density (i.e. longer mean free path of ion collisions) and higher temperature gradient (shorter characteristic length). Up to 40-60 % of decrease, compared to the case w/o ion KE, is observed among the tested cases where the ion KE level, specified by parameter αi in the FSE-limited model, is scanned over the possible range 0.2 < αi < 2.0. (2) The ion KE leads to significant increase in the ion temperature Ti (up to 600 % of increase among the tested cases) and significant decrease in the ion density ni (up to -80 % of decrease among the tested cases), widely over SOL upstream. By energy balance analysis, it has been suggested that the ion KE affects the upstream ni and Ti, respectively by power of 0.4 and -0.4 of the flux limiting factor, around the separatrix upstream as far as spatial change in plasma parameters are moderate. The results of this study serve as a fundamental assessment of the ion KE for DEMO relevant SOL plasma, clarifying the need of further sophistication of the modeling toward quantitaive prediction.

Influences of Dielectric Constant and Scan Rate to Hysteresis Effect in Perovskite Solar Cell: Simulation and Experimental Analyses

In this work, perovskite solar cells (PSCs) with different transport layers were fabricated to understand the hysteresis phenomenon under a series of scan rates. The experimental results show that the hysteresis phenomenon would be affected by the dielectric constant of transport layers and scan rate significantly. To explain this, a modified Poisson and drift-diffusion solver coupled with a fully time-dependent ion migration model is developed to analyze how the ion migration affects the performance and hysteresis of PSCs. The modeling results show that the most crucial factor in the hysteresis behavior is the built-in electric field of the perovskite. The non-linear hysteresis curves are demonstrated under different scan rates, and the mechanism of the hysteresis behavior is explained. Additionally, other factors contributing to the degree of hysteresis are determined to be the degree of degradation in the perovskite material, the quality of the perovskite crystal, and the materials of the transport layer, which corresponds to the total ion density, carrier lifetime of perovskite, and the dielectric constant of the transport layer, respectively. Finally, it was found that the dielectric constant of the transport layer is a key factor affecting hysteresis in perovskite solar cells.

Temperature-dependent ion chemistry in nanosecond discharge plasma-assisted CH4 oxidation

Ion chemistry with temperature evolution in weakly ionized plasma is important in plasma-assisted combustion and plasma-assisted catalysis, fuel reforming, and material synthesis due to its contribution to plasma generation and state transition. In this study, the kinetic roles of ionic reactions in nanosecond discharge (NSD) plasma-assisted temperature-dependent decomposition and oxidation of methane are investigated by integrated studies of experimental measurements and mathematical simulations. A detailed plasma chemistry mechanism governing the decomposition and oxidation processes in a He/CH4/O2 combustible mixture is proposed and studied by including a set of electron impact reactions, reactions involving excited species, and ionic reactions. A zero-dimensional model incorporating the plasma kinetics solver ZDPlasKin and the combustion chemical kinetics solver CHEMKIN is used to calculate the time evolution of the ion density. Uncertainty analysis of ionic reactions on key species generation is conducted by using different referenced data, and insignificant sensitivity is found. The numerical model is consistent with experimental data for methane consumption and generation of major species including CO, CO2, and H2. By modeling the temporal evolution of key ions, it is observed that O2+ presents the largest concentration in the discharge stage, followed by CH4+, CH3+, and CH2+, which is in accordance with the traditional ion chemistry in hydrocarbon flames and agrees well with molecular-beam mass spectrometer investigations. The path flux shows that the concentrations of key species, including electrons, O, OH, H, O(1D), O2(a1Δg), O2+, CH3+, and CH4+, change within 1–2 orders of magnitude and that the transition from a homogeneous state to a contracted/constricted state does not occur. The path flux and sensitivity analysis reveal the significant roles of cations in the stimulation of active radical generation, including CH, O, OH, and O(1D), thus accelerating methane oxidation. This work provides a deep insight into the ion chemistry of temperature-dependent plasma-assisted CH4 oxidation.

Ion dynamics driven by a strongly nonlinear plasma wake

In plasma wakefield accelerators, the wave excited in the plasma eventually breaks and leaves behind slowly changing fields and currents that perturb the ion density background. We study this process numerically using the example of a FACET experiment where the wave is excited by an electron bunch in the bubble regime in a radially bounded plasma. Four physical effects underlie the dynamics of ions: (1) attraction of ions toward the axis by the fields of the driver and the wave, resulting in formation of a density peak, (2) generation of ion-acoustic solitons following the decay of the density peak, (3) positive plasma charging after wave breaking, leading to acceleration of some ions in the radial direction, and (4) plasma pinching by the current generated during the wavebreaking. Interplay of these effects result in formation of various radial density profiles, which are difficult to produce in any other way.

Evaluation of Active Layer Thickness Influence in Long-Term Stability and Degradation Mechanisms in CsFAPbIBr Perovskite Solar Cells

Perovskite solar cells (PSCs) have become very popular due to the high efficiencies achieved. Nevertheless, one of the main challenges for their commercialization is to solve their instability issues. A thorough understanding of the processes taking place in the device is key for the development of this technology. Herein, J-V measurements have been performed to characterize PSCs with different active layer thicknesses. The solar cells’ parameters in pristine devices show no significant dependence on the active layer thickness. However, the evolution of the solar cells’ efficiency under ISOS-L1 protocol reveals a dramatic burn-in degradation, more pronounced for thicker devices. Samples were also characterized using impedance spectroscopy (IS) at different degradation stages, and data were fitted to a three RC/RCPE circuit. The low frequency capacitance in the thickest samples suffers a strong increase with time, which suggests a significant growth in the mobile ion population. This increase in the ion density partially screens the electric field, which yields a reduction in the extracted current and, consequently, the efficiency. This paper has been validated with two-dimensional numerical simulations that corroborate (i) the decrease in the internal electric field in dark conditions in 650 nm devices, and (ii) the consequent reduction in the carrier drift and, therefore, of the effective current extraction and efficiency.

Plasma and electrical characteristics depending on an antenna position in an inductively coupled plasma with a passive resonant antenna

We investigated the plasma and electrical characteristics depending on the antenna position in an inductively coupled plasma with a passive resonant antenna. When the powered antenna and passive resonant antenna are installed near the top plate and in the middle of the cylindrical reactor (Setup A), respectively, the ion density at the resonance is about 2.4 times to 9 times higher than that at non-resonance. This is explained by the reduction in power loss in the powered antenna (including the matching circuits) and the increase in power absorbed by the plasma discharge. However, when the powered antenna and passive resonant antenna are interchanged (Setup B), the ion density at the resonance is not significantly different from that at the non-resonance. When RF power is changed from 50 W to 200 W, the ion density at the resonance of Setup B is 1.6 times to 5.4 times higher than at the non-resonance of Setup A. To analyse this difference, the profile of the z-axis ion density is measured and the electric and magnetic field simulations are investigated. The results are discussed along with the electron kinetics effect and the coupling loss between the antenna and the metal plate.