In situ impedance measurement of microwave atmospheric pressure plasma

The impedance of atmospheric pressure argon plasma jets driven by microwave frequency is determined in situ by a novel 'two frequency method'. In the conventional method of reflection coefficient (S-11) measurement, the frequency of the driving microwave power is scanned, which inevitably affects the plasma characters and leads to uncertainty in the estimated plasma impedance. In our proposed method, the frequency-scanning signal additional to the driving power is used to measure S-11 over a wide frequency range, which enables accurate determination of the plasma impedance based on an equivalent circuit model. The measured resistance and reactance of the plasma increase with the driving power in agreement with the transmission line theory. Based on this in situ measurement of the plasma impedance, the net power coupled to the plasma has been determined. The overall power efficiency remains approximately unchanged around 45% for different input power levels owing to the competing effects between the impedance mismatch and the volume change of the plasma.