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Author Van Laer, K.; Tinck, S.; Samara, V.; de Marneffe, J.F.; Bogaerts, A.
Title Etching of low-k materials for microelectronics applications by means of a N2/H2 plasma : modeling and experimental investigation Type A1 Journal article
Year 2013 Publication Plasma sources science and technology Abbreviated Journal Plasma Sources Sci T
Volume 22 Issue 2 Pages 025011-25019
Keywords A1 Journal article; Plasma Lab for Applications in Sustainability and Medicine – Antwerp (PLASMANT)
Abstract In this paper, we investigate the etch process of so-called low-k organic material by means of a N2/H2 capacitively coupled plasma, as applied in the micro-electronics industry for the manufacturing of computer chips. In recent years, such an organic material has emerged as a possible alternative for replacing bulk SiO2 as a dielectric material in the back-end-of-line, because of the smaller parasitic capacity between adjacent conducting lines, and thus a faster propagation of the electrical signals throughout the chip. Numerical simulations with a hybrid plasma model, using an extensive plasma and surface chemistry set, as well as experiments are performed, focusing on the plasma properties as well as the actual etching process, to obtain a better insight into the underlying mechanisms. Furthermore, the effects of gas pressure, applied power and gas composition are investigated to try to optimize the etch process. In general, the plasma density reaches a maximum near the wafer edge due to the so-called 'edge effect'. As a result, the etch rate is not uniform but will also reach its maximum near the wafer edge. The pressure seems not to have a big effect. A higher power increases the etch rate, but the uniformity becomes (slightly) worse. The gas mixing ratio has no significant effect on the etch process, except when a pure H2 or N2 plasma is used, illustrating the synergistic effects of a N2/H2 plasma. In fact, our calculations reveal that the N2/H2 plasma entails an ion-enhanced etch process. The simulation results are in reasonable agreement with the experimental values. The microscopic etch profile shows the desired anisotropic shape under all conditions under study.
Address
Corporate Author Thesis
Publisher Institute of Physics Place of Publication Bristol Editor
Language Wos 000317275400013 Publication Date 2013-03-18
Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title
Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN 0963-0252;1361-6595; ISBN Additional Links UA library record; WoS full record; WoS citing articles
Impact Factor 3.302 Times cited (down) 13 Open Access
Notes Approved Most recent IF: 3.302; 2013 IF: 3.056
Call Number UA @ lucian @ c:irua:106654 Serial 1084
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Author Zhang, Q.-Z.; Wang, W.-Z.; Bogaerts, A.
Title Importance of surface charging during plasma streamer propagation in catalyst pores Type A1 Journal article
Year 2018 Publication Plasma sources science and technology Abbreviated Journal Plasma Sources Sci T
Volume 27 Issue 6 Pages 065009
Keywords A1 Journal article; Plasma Lab for Applications in Sustainability and Medicine – Antwerp (PLASMANT)
Abstract Plasma catalysis is gaining increasing interest, but the underlying mechanisms are far from understood. Different catalyst materials will have different chemical effects, but in addition, they might also have different dielectric constants, which will affect surface charging, and thus the plasma behavior. In this work, we demonstrate that surface charging plays an important role in the streamer propagation and discharge enhancement inside catalyst pores, and in the plasma distribution along the dielectric surface, and this role greatly depends on the dielectric constant of the material. For εr50, surface charging causes the plasma to spread along the dielectric surface and inside the pores, leading to deeper plasma streamer penetration, while for εr>50 or for metallic coatings, the discharge is more localized, due to very weak surface charging. In addition, at εr=50, the significant surface charge density near the pore entrance causes a large potential drop at the sharp pore edges, which induces a strong electric field and results in most pronounced plasma enhancement near the pore entrance.
Address
Corporate Author Thesis
Publisher Place of Publication Editor
Language Wos 000436845700002 Publication Date 2018-06-27
Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title
Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN 1361-6595 ISBN Additional Links UA library record; WoS full record; WoS citing articles
Impact Factor 3.302 Times cited (down) 13 Open Access OpenAccess
Notes We acknowledge financial support from the European Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowship within H2020 (Grant Agreement 702604) and from the TOP-BOF project of the University of Antwerp. This work was carried out in part using the Turing HPC infrastructure at the CalcUA core facility of the Universiteit Antwerpen, a division of the Flemish Supercomputer Center VSC, funded by the Hercules Foundation, the Flemish Government (department EWI) and the University of Antwerp. Approved Most recent IF: 3.302
Call Number PLASMANT @ plasmant @c:irua:152243 Serial 4995
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Author Kolev, S.; Bogaerts, A.
Title Similarities and differences between gliding glow and gliding arc discharges Type A1 Journal article
Year 2015 Publication Plasma sources science and technology Abbreviated Journal Plasma Sources Sci T
Volume 24 Issue 24 Pages 065023
Keywords A1 Journal article; Plasma Lab for Applications in Sustainability and Medicine – Antwerp (PLASMANT)
Abstract In this work we have analyzed the properties of a gliding dc discharge in argon at atmospheric pressure. Despite the usual designation of these discharges as ‘gliding arc discharges’, it was found previously that they operate in two different regimes—glow and arc. Here we analyze the differences in both regimes by means of two dimensional fluid modeling. In order to address different aspects of the discharge operation, we use two models—Cartesian and axisymmetric in a cylindrical coordinate system. The obtained results show that the two types of discharges produce a similar plasma column for a similar discharge current. However, the different mechanisms of plasma channel attachment to the cathode could produce certain differences in the plasma parameters (i.e. arc elongation), and this can affect gas treatments applications.
Address
Corporate Author Thesis
Publisher Place of Publication Editor
Language Wos 000368117100028 Publication Date 2015-11-26
Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title
Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN 0963-0252;1361-6595; ISBN Additional Links UA library record; WoS full record; WoS citing articles
Impact Factor 3.302 Times cited (down) 12 Open Access
Notes This work is financially supported by the Methusalem financing and by the IAP/7 (Inter-university Attraction Pole) program ‘Physical Chemistry of Plasma-Surface Interactions’ from the Belgian Federal Office for Science Policy (BELSPO). The work was carried out in part using the Turing HPC infrastructure of the CalcUA core facility of the Universiteit Antwerpen, a division of the Flemish Supercomputer Center VSC, funded by the Hercules Foundation, the Flemish Government (department EWI) and the Universiteit Antwerpen Approved Most recent IF: 3.302; 2015 IF: 3.591
Call Number c:irua:129214 Serial 3952
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Author Tinck, S.; Bogaerts, A.
Title Computer simulations of an oxygen inductively coupled plasma used for plasma-assisted atomic layer deposition Type A1 Journal article
Year 2011 Publication Plasma sources science and technology Abbreviated Journal Plasma Sources Sci T
Volume 20 Issue 1 Pages 015008-015008,10
Keywords A1 Journal article; Plasma Lab for Applications in Sustainability and Medicine – Antwerp (PLASMANT)
Abstract In this paper, an O2 inductively coupled plasma used for plasma enhanced atomic layer deposition of Al2O3 thin films is investigated by means of modeling. This work intends to provide more information about basic plasma properties such as species densities and species fluxes to the substrate as a function of power and pressure, which might be hard to measure experimentally. For this purpose, a hybrid model developed by Kushner et al is applied to calculate the plasma characteristics in the reactor volume for different chamber pressures ranging from 1 to 10 mTorr and different coil powers ranging from 50 to 500 W. Density profiles of the various oxygen containing plasma species are reported as well as fluxes to the substrate under various operating conditions. Furthermore, different orientations of the substrate, which can be placed vertically or horizontally in the reactor, are taken into account. In addition, special attention is paid to the recombination process of atomic oxygen on the different reactor walls under the stated operating conditions. From this work it can be concluded that the plasma properties change significantly in different locations of the reactor. The plasma density near the cylindrical coil is high, while it is almost negligible in the neighborhood of the substrate. Ion and excited species fluxes to the substrate are found to be very low and negligible. Finally, the orientation of the substrate has a minor effect on the flux of O2, while it has a significant effect on the flux of O. In the horizontal configuration, the flux of atomic oxygen can be up to one order of magnitude lower than in the vertical configuration.
Address
Corporate Author Thesis
Publisher Institute of Physics Place of Publication Bristol Editor
Language Wos 000286592200009 Publication Date 2011-01-08
Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title
Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN 0963-0252;1361-6595; ISBN Additional Links UA library record; WoS full record; WoS citing articles
Impact Factor 3.302 Times cited (down) 11 Open Access
Notes Approved Most recent IF: 3.302; 2011 IF: 2.521
Call Number UA @ lucian @ c:irua:85285 Serial 467
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Author Peerenboom, K.; Parente, A.; Kozák, T.; Bogaerts, A.; Degrez, G.
Title Dimension reduction of non-equilibrium plasma kinetic models using principal component analysis Type A1 Journal article
Year 2015 Publication Plasma sources science and technology Abbreviated Journal Plasma Sources Sci T
Volume 24 Issue 24 Pages 025004
Keywords A1 Journal article; Plasma Lab for Applications in Sustainability and Medicine – Antwerp (PLASMANT)
Abstract The chemical complexity of non-equilibrium plasmas poses a challenge for plasma modeling because of the computational load. This paper presents a dimension reduction method for such chemically complex plasmas based on principal component analysis (PCA). PCA is used to identify a low-dimensional manifold in chemical state space that is described by a small number of parameters: the principal components. Reduction is obtained since continuity equations only need to be solved for these principal components and not for all the species. Application of the presented method to a CO2 plasma model including state-to-state vibrational kinetics of CO2 and CO demonstrates the potential of the PCA method for dimension reduction. A manifold described by only two principal components is able to predict the CO2 to CO conversion at varying ionization degrees very accurately.
Address
Corporate Author Thesis
Publisher Institute of Physics Place of Publication Bristol Editor
Language Wos 000356816200008 Publication Date 2015-01-27
Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title
Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN 0963-0252;1361-6595; ISBN Additional Links UA library record; WoS full record; WoS citing articles
Impact Factor 3.302 Times cited (down) 11 Open Access
Notes Approved Most recent IF: 3.302; 2015 IF: 3.591
Call Number c:irua:123534 Serial 704
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Author Zhao, S.-X.; Gao, F.; Wang, Y.-N.; Bogaerts, A.
Title Gas ratio effects on the Si etch rate and profile uniformity in an inductively coupled Ar/CF4 plasma Type A1 Journal article
Year 2013 Publication Plasma sources science and technology Abbreviated Journal Plasma Sources Sci T
Volume 22 Issue 1 Pages 015017-15018
Keywords A1 Journal article; Plasma Lab for Applications in Sustainability and Medicine – Antwerp (PLASMANT)
Abstract In this work, a hybrid model is used to investigate the effect of different gas ratios on the Si etching and polymer film deposition characteristics in an Ar/CF4 inductively coupled plasma. The influence of the surface processes on the bulk plasma properties is studied, and also the spatial characteristics of important gas phase and etched species. The densities of F and CF2 decrease when the surface module is included in the simulations, due to the species consumption caused by etching and polymer deposition. The influence of the surface processes on the bulk plasma depends on the Ar/CF4 gas ratio. The deposited polymer becomes thicker at high CF4 content because of more abundant CFx radicals. As a result of the competition between the polymer thickness and the F flux, the etch rate first increases and then decreases upon increasing the CF4 content. The electron properties, more specifically the electron density profile, affect the Si etch characteristics substantially by determining the radical density and flux profiles. In fact, the radial profile of the etch rate is more uniform at low CF4 content since the electron density has a smooth distribution. At high CF4 content, the etch rate is less uniform with a minimum halfway along the wafer radius, because the electron density distribution is more localized. Therefore, our calculations predict that it is better to work at relatively high Ar/CF4 gas ratios, in order to obtain high etch rate and good profile uniformity for etch applications. This, in fact, corresponds to the typical experimental etch conditions in Ar/CF4 gas mixtures as found in the literature, where Ar is typically present at a much higher concentration than CF4.
Address
Corporate Author Thesis
Publisher Institute of Physics Place of Publication Bristol Editor
Language Wos 000314966300022 Publication Date 2012-12-20
Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title
Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN 0963-0252;1361-6595; ISBN Additional Links UA library record; WoS full record; WoS citing articles
Impact Factor 3.302 Times cited (down) 11 Open Access
Notes Approved Most recent IF: 3.302; 2013 IF: 3.056
Call Number UA @ lucian @ c:irua:102583 Serial 1320
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Author Sun, S.R.; Kolev, S.; Wang, H.X.; Bogaerts, A.
Title Investigations of discharge and post-discharge in a gliding arc: a 3D computational study Type A1 Journal article
Year 2017 Publication Plasma sources science and technology Abbreviated Journal Plasma Sources Sci T
Volume 26 Issue 26 Pages 055017
Keywords A1 Journal article; Plasma Lab for Applications in Sustainability and Medicine – Antwerp (PLASMANT)
Abstract In this study we quantitatively investigate for the first time the plasma characteristics of an argon gliding arc with a 3D model. The model is validated by comparison with available experimental data from literature and a reasonable agreement is obtained for the calculated gas temperature and electron density. A complete arc cycle is modeled from initial ignition to arc decay. We investigate how the plasma characteristics, i.e., the electron temperature, gas temperature,

reduced electric field, and the densities of electrons, Ar+ and Ar2+ ions and Ar(4s) excited states, vary over one complete arc cycle, including their behavior in the discharge and post-discharge. These plasma characteristics exhibit a different evolution over one arc cycle, indicating that either the active discharge stage or the post-discharge stage can be beneficial for certain applications.
Address
Corporate Author Thesis
Publisher Place of Publication Editor
Language Wos 000399278100002 Publication Date 2017-04-05
Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title
Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN 1361-6595 ISBN Additional Links UA library record; WoS full record; WoS citing articles
Impact Factor 3.302 Times cited (down) 11 Open Access OpenAccess
Notes This work is financially supported by the Methusalem financing, by the Fund for Scientific Research Flanders (FWO) and by the IAP/7 (Inter-university Attraction Pole) program ‘Physical Chemistry of Plasma-Surface Interactions’ from the Belgian Federal Office for Science Policy (BELSPO). The work was carried out in part using the Turing HPC infrastructure of the CalcUA core facility of the Universiteit Antwerpen, a division of the Flemish Supercomputer Center VSC, funded by the Hercules Foundation, the Flemish Government (department EWI) and the Universiteit Antwerpen. This work was also supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 11275021, 11575019). SR Sun thanks the financial support from the China Scholarship Council (CSC). Approved Most recent IF: 3.302
Call Number PLASMANT @ plasmant @ c:irua:142204 Serial 4550
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Author Zhang, Y.-R.; Neyts, E.C.; Bogaerts, A.
Title Enhancement of plasma generation in catalyst pores with different shapes Type A1 Journal article
Year 2018 Publication Plasma sources science and technology Abbreviated Journal Plasma Sources Sci T
Volume 27 Issue 5 Pages 055008
Keywords A1 Journal article; Plasma Lab for Applications in Sustainability and Medicine – Antwerp (PLASMANT)
Abstract Plasma generation inside catalyst pores is of utmost importance for plasma catalysis, as the existence of plasma species inside the pores affects the active surface area of the catalyst available to the plasma species for catalytic reactions. In this paper, the electric field enhancement, and thus the plasma production inside catalyst pores with different pore shapes is studied with a two-dimensional fluid model. The results indicate that the electric field will be significantly enhanced near tip-like structures. In a conical pore with small opening, the strongest electric field appears at the opening and bottom corners of the pore, giving rise to a prominent ionization rate throughout the pore. For a cylindrical pore, the electric field is only enhanced at the bottom corners of the pore, with lower absolute value, and thus the ionization rate inside the pore is only slightly enhanced. Finally, in a conical pore with large opening, the electric field is characterized by a maximum at the bottom of the pore, yielding a similar behavior for the ionization rate. These results demonstrate that the shape of the pore has a significantly influence on the electric field enhancement, and thus modifies the plasma properties.
Address
Corporate Author Thesis
Publisher Place of Publication Editor
Language Wos 000432351700002 Publication Date 2018-05-15
Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title
Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN 1361-6595 ISBN Additional Links UA library record; WoS full record; WoS citing articles
Impact Factor 3.302 Times cited (down) 11 Open Access OpenAccess
Notes This work was supported by the Fund for Scientific Research Flanders (FWO) (Grant No. G.0217.14N) and the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (Grant No. DUT17LK52). Approved Most recent IF: 3.302
Call Number PLASMANT @ plasmant @c:irua:151546 Serial 4998
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Author Zhang, Q.-Z.; Liu, Y.-X.; Jiang, W.; Bogaerts, A.; Wang, Y.-N.
Title Heating mechanism in direct current superposed single-frequency and dual-frequency capacitively coupled plasmas Type A1 Journal article
Year 2013 Publication Plasma sources science and technology Abbreviated Journal Plasma Sources Sci T
Volume 22 Issue 2 Pages 025014-25018
Keywords A1 Journal article; Plasma Lab for Applications in Sustainability and Medicine – Antwerp (PLASMANT)
Abstract In this work particle-in-cell/Monte Carlo collision simulations are performed to study the heating mechanism and plasma characteristics in direct current (dc) superposed radio-frequency (RF) capacitively coupled plasmas, operated both in single-frequency (SF) and dual-frequency (DF) regimes. An RF (60/2 MHz) source is applied on the bottom electrode to sustain the discharge, and a dc source is fixed on the top electrode. The heating mechanism appears to be very different in dc superposed SF and DF discharges. When only a single source of 60 MHz is applied, the plasma bulk region is reduced by the dc source, thus the ionization rate and hence the electron density decrease with rising dc voltage. However, when a DF source of 60 and 2 MHz is applied, the electron density can increase upon addition of a dc voltage, depending on the gap length and applied dc voltage. This is explained from the spatiotemporal ionization rates in the DF discharge. In fact, a completely different behavior is observed for the ionization rate in the two half-periods of the LF source. In the first LF half-period, the situation resembles the dc superposed SF discharge, and the reduced plasma bulk region due to the negative dc bias results in a very small effective discharge area and a low ionization rate. On the other hand, in the second half-period, the negative dc bias is to some extent counteracted by the LF voltage, and the sheath close to the dc electrode becomes particularly thin. Consequently, the amplitude of the high-frequency sheath oscillations at the top electrode is largely enhanced, while the LF sheath at the bottom electrode is in its expanding phase and can thus well confine the high-energy electrons. Therefore, the ionization rate increases considerably in this second LF half-period. Furthermore, in addition to the comparison between SF and DF discharges and the effect of gap length and dc voltage, the effect of secondary electrons is examined.
Address
Corporate Author Thesis
Publisher Institute of Physics Place of Publication Bristol Editor
Language Wos 000317275400016 Publication Date 2013-03-28
Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title
Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN 0963-0252;1361-6595; ISBN Additional Links UA library record; WoS full record; WoS citing articles
Impact Factor 3.302 Times cited (down) 9 Open Access
Notes Approved Most recent IF: 3.302; 2013 IF: 3.056
Call Number UA @ lucian @ c:irua:106877 Serial 1413
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Author Bogaerts, A.; Okhrimovskyy, A.; Baguer, N.; Gijbels, R.
Title Hollow cathode discharges with gas flow: numerical modelling for the effect on the sputtered atoms and the deposition flux Type A1 Journal article
Year 2005 Publication Plasma sources science and technology Abbreviated Journal Plasma Sources Sci T
Volume 14 Issue Pages 191-200
Keywords A1 Journal article; Plasma Lab for Applications in Sustainability and Medicine – Antwerp (PLASMANT)
Abstract
Address
Corporate Author Thesis
Publisher Institute of Physics Place of Publication Bristol Editor
Language Wos 000227652500021 Publication Date 2005-02-05
Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title
Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN 0963-0252;1361-6595; ISBN Additional Links UA library record; WoS full record; WoS citing articles
Impact Factor 3.302 Times cited (down) 9 Open Access
Notes Approved Most recent IF: 3.302; 2005 IF: 1.798
Call Number UA @ lucian @ c:irua:50478 Serial 1480
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Author Sun, S.R.; Kolev, S.; Wang, H.X.; Bogaerts, A.
Title Coupled gas flow-plasma model for a gliding arc: investigations of the back-breakdown phenomenon and its effect on the gliding arc characteristics Type A1 Journal article
Year 2017 Publication Plasma sources science and technology Abbreviated Journal Plasma Sources Sci T
Volume 26 Issue 26 Pages 015003
Keywords A1 Journal article; Plasma Lab for Applications in Sustainability and Medicine – Antwerp (PLASMANT)
Abstract We present a 3D and 2D Cartesian quasi-neutral plasma model for a low current argon gliding arc discharge, including strong interactions between the gas flow and arc plasma column.

The 3D model is applied only for a short time of 0.2 ms due to its huge computational cost. It mainly serves to verify the reliability of the 2D model. As the results in 2D compare well with those in 3D, they can be used for a better understanding of the gliding arc basic characteristics. More specifically, we investigate the back-breakdown phenomenon induced by an artificially controlled plasma channel, and we discuss its effect on the gliding arc characteristics. The

back-breakdown phenomenon, or backward-jump motion of the arc, as observed in the experiments, results in a drop of the gas temperature, as well as in a delay of the arc velocity with respect to the gas flow velocity, allowing more gas to pass through the arc, and thus increasing the efficiency of the gliding arc for gas treatment applications.
Address
Corporate Author Thesis
Publisher Place of Publication Editor
Language Wos 000419253000001 Publication Date 2016-11-22
Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title
Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN 1361-6595 ISBN Additional Links UA library record; WoS full record; WoS citing articles
Impact Factor 3.302 Times cited (down) 9 Open Access OpenAccess
Notes This work is financially supported by the Methusalem financing, by the Fund for Scientific Research Flanders (FWO) and by the IAP/7 (Inter-university Attraction Pole) program ‘Physical Chemistry of Plasma-Surface Interactions’ from the Belgian Federal Office for Science Policy (BELSPO). The work was carried out in part using the Turing HPC infrastructure of the CalcUA core facility of the Universiteit Antwerpen, a division of the Flemish Supercomputer Center VSC, funded by the Hercules Foundation, the Flemish Government (department EWI) and the Universiteit Antwerpen. This work was also supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 11275021, 11575019). S R Sun thanks the financial support from the China Scholarship Council. Approved Most recent IF: 3.302
Call Number PLASMANT @ plasmant @ c:irua:138993 Serial 4337
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Author Bultinck, E.; Bogaerts, A.
Title Characterization of an Ar/O2 magnetron plasma by a multi-species Monte Carlo model Type A1 Journal article
Year 2011 Publication Plasma sources science and technology Abbreviated Journal Plasma Sources Sci T
Volume 20 Issue 4 Pages 045013-045013,12
Keywords A1 Journal article; Plasma Lab for Applications in Sustainability and Medicine – Antwerp (PLASMANT)
Abstract A combined Monte Carlo (MC)/analytical surface model is developed to study the plasma processes occurring during the reactive sputter deposition of TiOx thin films. This model describes the important plasma species with a MC approach (i.e. electrons, Ar+ ions, {\rm O}_2
Address
Corporate Author Thesis
Publisher Institute of Physics Place of Publication Bristol Editor
Language Wos 000295829800015 Publication Date 2011-06-14
Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title
Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN 0963-0252;1361-6595; ISBN Additional Links UA library record; WoS full record; WoS citing articles
Impact Factor 3.302 Times cited (down) 7 Open Access
Notes Approved Most recent IF: 3.302; 2011 IF: 2.521
Call Number UA @ lucian @ c:irua:89732 Serial 316
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Author Ramakers, M.; Medrano, J.A.; Trenchev, G.; Gallucci, F.; Bogaerts, A.
Title Revealing the arc dynamics in a gliding arc plasmatron: a better insight to improve CO2conversion Type A1 Journal article
Year 2017 Publication Plasma sources science and technology Abbreviated Journal Plasma Sources Sci T
Volume 26 Issue 12 Pages 125002
Keywords A1 Journal article; Plasma Lab for Applications in Sustainability and Medicine – Antwerp (PLASMANT)
Abstract A gliding arc plasmatron (GAP) is very promising for CO2 conversion into value-added chemicals, but to further improve this important application, a better understanding of the arc behavior is indispensable. Therefore, we study here for the first time the dynamic arc behavior of the GAP by means of a high-speed camera, for different reactor configurations and in a wide range of operating conditions. This allows us to provide a complete image of the behavior of the gliding arc. More specifically, the arc body shape, diameter, movement and rotation speed are analyzed and discussed. Clearly, the arc movement and shape relies on a number of factors, such as gas turbulence, outlet diameter, electrode surface, gas contraction and buoyance force. Furthermore, we also compare the experimentally measured arc movement to a state-of-the-art 3D-plasma model, which predicts the plasma movement and rotation speed with very good accuracy, to gain further insight in the underlying mechanisms. Finally, we correlate the arc dynamics with the CO2 conversion and energy efficiency, at exactly the same conditions, to explain the effect of these parameters on the CO2 conversion process. This work is important for understanding and optimizing the GAP for CO2 conversion.
Address
Corporate Author Thesis
Publisher Place of Publication Editor
Language Wos 000414675000001 Publication Date 2017-11-07
Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title
Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN 1361-6595 ISBN Additional Links UA library record; WoS full record; WoS citing articles
Impact Factor 3.302 Times cited (down) 7 Open Access OpenAccess
Notes This work was supported by the Belgian Federal Office for Science Policy (BELSPO) and the Fund for Scientific Research Flanders (FWO; grant numbers G.0383.16N and 11U5316N). Approved Most recent IF: 3.302
Call Number PLASMANT @ plasmant @c:irua:147023 Serial 4761
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Author Trenchev, G.; Kolev, S.; Kiss’ovski, Z.
Title Modeling a Langmuir probe in atmospheric pressure plasma at different EEDFs Type A1 Journal article
Year 2017 Publication Plasma sources science and technology Abbreviated Journal Plasma Sources Sci T
Volume 26 Issue 26 Pages 055013
Keywords A1 Journal article; Plasma Lab for Applications in Sustainability and Medicine – Antwerp (PLASMANT)
Abstract In this study, we present a computational model of a cylindrical electric probe in atmospheric pressure argon plasma. The plasma properties are varied in terms of density and electron temperature. Furthermore, results for plasmas with Maxwellian and non-Maxwellian electron energy distribution functions are also obtained and compared. The model is based on the fluid description of plasma within the COMSOL software package. The results for the ion saturation current are compared and show good agreement with existing analytical Langmuir probe theories. A strong dependence between the ion saturation current and electron transport properties was observed, and attributed to the effects of ambipolar diffusion.
Address
Corporate Author Thesis
Publisher Place of Publication Editor
Language Wos 000398327900002 Publication Date 2017-04-03
Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title
Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN 1361-6595 ISBN Additional Links UA library record; WoS full record; WoS citing articles
Impact Factor 3.302 Times cited (down) 4 Open Access OpenAccess
Notes Approved Most recent IF: 3.302
Call Number PLASMANT @ plasmant @ c:irua:141914 Serial 4535
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Author Wang, W.; Bogaerts, A.
Title Effective ionisation coefficients and critical breakdown electric field of CO2at elevated temperature: effect of excited states and ion kinetics Type A1 Journal article
Year 2016 Publication Plasma sources science and technology Abbreviated Journal Plasma Sources Sci T
Volume 25 Issue 25 Pages 055025
Keywords A1 Journal article; Plasma Lab for Applications in Sustainability and Medicine – Antwerp (PLASMANT)
Abstract Electrical breakdown by the application of an electric field occurs more easily in hot gases than in cold gases because of the extra electron-species interactions that occur as a result of dissociation, ionization and excitation at higher temperature. This paper discusses some overlooked physics and clarifies inaccuracies in the evaluation of the effective ionization coefficients and the critical reduced breakdown electric field of CO2 at elevated temperature, considering the influence of excited states and ion kinetics. The critical reduced breakdown electric field is obtained by balancing electron generation and loss mechanisms using the electron energy distribution function (EEDF) derived from the Boltzmann transport equation under the two-term approximation. The equilibrium compositions of the hot gas mixtures are determined based on Gibbs free energy minimization considering the ground states as well as vibrationally and electronically excited states as independent species, which follow a Boltzmann distribution with a fixed excitation temperature. The interaction cross sections between electrons and the excited species, not reported previously, are properly taken into account. Furthermore, the ion kinetics, including electron–ion recombination, associative electron detachment, charge transfer and ion conversion into stable negative ion clusters, are also considered. Our results indicate that the excited species lead to a greater population of high-energy electrons at higher gas temperature and this affects the Townsend rate coefficients (i.e. of electron impact ionization and attachment), but the critical reduced breakdown electric field strength of CO2 is only affected when also properly accounting for the ion kinetics. Indeed, the latter greatly influences the effective ionization coefficients and hence the critical reduced breakdown electric field at temperatures above 1500 K. The rapid increase of the dissociative electron attachment cross-section of molecular oxygen with rising vibrational quantum number leads to a larger electron loss rate and this enhances the critical reduced breakdown electric field strength in the temperature range where the concentration of molecular oxygen is relatively high. The results obtained in this work show reasonable agreement with experimental results from literature, and are important for the evaluation of the dielectric strength of CO2 in a highly reactive environment at elevated temperature.
Address
Corporate Author Thesis
Publisher Place of Publication Editor
Language Wos 000385494000006 Publication Date 2016-09-22
Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title
Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN 1361-6595 ISBN Additional Links UA library record; WoS full record; WoS citing articles
Impact Factor 3.302 Times cited (down) 3 Open Access
Notes Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowship ‘GlidArc’ within Horizon2020 (Grant No.657304) and the FWO project (grant G.0383.16N). The computational work was carried out using the Turing HPC infrastructure at the CalcUA core facility of the Universiteit Antwerpen (UA), a division of the Flemish Supercomputer Center VSC, funded by the Hercules Foundation, the Flemish Government (department EWI) and the UA. Approved Most recent IF: 3.302
Call Number PLASMANT @ plasmant @ c:irua:135515 Serial 4281
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Author Wang, W.; Berthelot, A.; Kolev, S.; Tu, X.; Bogaerts, A.
Title CO2 conversion in a gliding arc plasma: 1D cylindrical discharge model Type A1 Journal article
Year 2016 Publication Plasma sources science and technology Abbreviated Journal Plasma Sources Sci T
Volume 25 Issue 25 Pages 065012
Keywords A1 Journal article; Plasma Lab for Applications in Sustainability and Medicine – Antwerp (PLASMANT)
Abstract CO 2 conversion by a gliding arc plasma is gaining increasing interest, but the underlying mechanisms for an energy-efficient process are still far from understood. Indeed, the chemical complexity of the non-equilibrium plasma poses a challenge for plasma modeling due to the huge computational load. In this paper, a one-dimensional (1D) gliding arc model is developed in a cylindrical frame, with a detailed non-equilibrium CO 2 plasma chemistry set, including the CO 2 vibrational kinetics up to the dissociation limit. The model solves a set of time- dependent continuity equations based on the chemical reactions, as well as the electron energy balance equation, and it assumes quasi-neutrality in the plasma. The loss of plasma species and heat due to convection by the transverse gas flow is accounted for by using a characteristic frequency of convective cooling, which depends on the gliding arc radius, the relative velocity of the gas flow with respect to the arc and on the arc elongation rate. The calculated values for plasma density and plasma temperature within this work are comparable with experimental data on gliding arc plasma reactors in the literature. Our calculation results indicate that excitation to the vibrational levels promotes efficient dissociation in the gliding arc, and this is consistent with experimental investigations of the gliding arc based CO 2 conversion in the literature. Additionally, the dissociation of CO 2 through collisions with O atoms has the largest contribution to CO 2 splitting under the conditions studied. In addition to the above results, we also demonstrate that lumping the CO 2 vibrational states can bring a significant reduction of the computational load. The latter opens up the way for 2D or 3D models with an accurate description of the CO 2 vibrational kinetics.
Address
Corporate Author Thesis
Publisher Place of Publication Editor
Language Wos 000386605100002 Publication Date 2016-10-18
Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title
Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN 1361-6595 ISBN Additional Links UA library record; WoS full record; WoS citing articles
Impact Factor 3.302 Times cited (down) 3 Open Access
Notes This research was supported by the European Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowship ‘GlidArc’ within Horizon2020 (Grant No. 657304) and by the FWO project (grant G.0383.16N). The calculations were performed using the Turing HPC infrastructure at the CalcUA core facility of the Universiteit Antwerpen (UAntwerpen), a division of the Flemish Supercomputer Center VSC, funded by the Hercules Foundation, the Flemish Government (department EWI) and the UAntwerpen. Approved Most recent IF: 3.302
Call Number PLASMANT @ plasmant @ c:irua:135990 Serial 4286
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Author Zhang, Q.-Z.; Bogaerts, A.
Title Plasma streamer propagation in structured catalysts Type A1 Journal Article
Year 2018 Publication Plasma Sources Science & Technology Abbreviated Journal Plasma Sources Sci T
Volume 27 Issue 10 Pages 105013
Keywords A1 Journal Article; plasma catalysis, streamer propagation, 3D structures, PIC/MCC; Plasma, laser ablation and surface modeling Antwerp (PLASMANT) ;
Abstract Plasma catalysis is gaining increasing interest for various environmental applications. Catalytic

material can be inserted in different shapes in the plasma, e.g., as pellets, (coated) beads, but also

as honeycomb monolith and 3DFD structures, also called ‘structured catalysts’, which have high

mass and heat transfer properties. In this work, we examine the streamer discharge propagation

and the interaction between plasma and catalysts, inside the channels of such structured catalysts,

by means of a two-dimensional particle-in-cell/Monte Carlo collision model. Our results reveal

that plasma streamers behave differently in various structured catalysts. In case of a honeycomb

structure, the streamers are limited to only one channel, with low or high plasma density when

the channels are parallel or perpendicular to the electrodes, respectively. In contrast, in case of a

3DFD structure, the streamers can distribute to different channels, causing discharge

enhancement due to surface charging on the dielectric walls of the structured catalyst, and

especially giving rise to a broader plasma distribution. The latter should be beneficial for plasma

catalysis applications, as it allows a larger catalyst surface area to be exposed to the plasma.
Address
Corporate Author Thesis
Publisher Place of Publication Editor
Language Wos 000448131900002 Publication Date 2018-10-22
Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title
Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN 1361-6595 ISBN Additional Links UA library record; WoS full record; WoS citing articles
Impact Factor 3.302 Times cited (down) 3 Open Access Not_Open_Access
Notes We acknowledge financial support from the European Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowship within H2020 (Grant Agreement 702604). This work was carried out in part using the Turing HPC infrastructure at the CalcUA core facility of the Universiteit Antwerpen, a division of the Flemish Supercomputer Center VSC, funded by the Hercules Foundation, the Flemish Government (department EWI) and the University of Antwerp. Approved Most recent IF: 3.302
Call Number PLASMANT @ plasmant @c:irua:155510 Serial 5068
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Author Wang, L.; Wen, D.-Q.; Zhang, Q.-Z.; Song, Y.-H.; Zhang, Y.-R.; Wang, Y.-N.
Title Disruption of self-organized striated structure induced by secondary electron emission in capacitive oxygen discharges Type A1 Journal article
Year 2019 Publication Plasma sources science and technology Abbreviated Journal Plasma Sources Sci T
Volume 28 Issue 5 Pages 055007
Keywords A1 Journal article; Plasma Lab for Applications in Sustainability and Medicine – Antwerp (PLASMANT)
Abstract Self-organized striated structure has been observed experimentally and numerically in CF4 plasmas in radio-frequency capacitively coupled plasmas recently (Liu et al 2016 Phys. Rev. Lett. 116 255002). In this work, the striated structure is investigated in a capacitively coupled oxygen discharge with the introduction of the effect from the secondary electron emission, based on a particle-in-cell/Monte Carlo collision model. As we know, the transport of positive and negative ions plays a key role in the formation of striations in electronegative gases, for which, the electronegativity needs to be large enough. As the secondary electron emission increases, electrons in the sheaths gradually contribute more ionization to the discharge. Meanwhile, the increase of the electron density, especially in the plasma bulk, leads to an increased electrical conductivity and a reduced bulk electric field, which would shield the ions' mobility. These changes result in enlarged striation gaps. And then, with more emitted electrons, obvious disruption of the striations is observed accompanied with a transition of electron heating mode. Due to the weakened field, the impact ionization in the plasma bulk is attenuated, compared with the enhanced ionization caused by secondary electrons. This would lead to the electron heating mode transition from striated (STR) mode to gamma-mode. Besides, our investigation further reveals that gamma-mode is more likely to dominate the discharge under high gas pressures or driving voltages.
Address
Corporate Author Thesis
Publisher Place of Publication Editor
Language Wos 000467827800001 Publication Date 2019-04-09
Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title
Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN 0963-0252 ISBN Additional Links UA library record; WoS full record; WoS citing articles
Impact Factor 3.302 Times cited (down) 2 Open Access Not_Open_Access: Available from 13.05.2020
Notes Approved Most recent IF: 3.302
Call Number UA @ admin @ c:irua:160365 Serial 5270
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Author Zhang, Q.-Z.; Bogaerts, A.
Title Capacitive electrical asymmetry effect in an inductively coupled plasma reactor Type A1 Journal Article
Year 2018 Publication Plasma Sources Science & Technology Abbreviated Journal Plasma Sources Sci T
Volume 27 Issue 10 Pages 105019
Keywords A1 Journal Article; electrical asymmetry effect, inductively coupled plasma, self-bias, independent control of the ion fluxes and ion energy; Plasma, laser ablation and surface modeling Antwerp (PLASMANT) ;
Abstract The electrical asymmetry effect is realized by applying multiple frequency power sources

(13.56 MHz and 27.12 MHz) to a capacitively biased substrate electrode in a specific inductively

coupled plasma reactor. On the one hand, by adjusting the phase angle θ between the multiple

frequency power sources, an almost linear self-bias develops on the substrate electrode, and

consequently the ion energy can be well modulated, while the ion flux stays constant within a

large range of θ. On the other hand, the plasma density and ion flux can be significantly

modulated by tuning the inductive power supply, while only inducing a small change in the self-

bias. Independent control of self-bias/ion energy and ion flux can thus be realized in this specific

inductively coupled plasma reactor.
Address
Corporate Author Thesis
Publisher Place of Publication Editor
Language Wos 000448434100001 Publication Date 2018-10-26
Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title
Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN 1361-6595 ISBN Additional Links UA library record; WoS full record; WoS citing articles
Impact Factor 3.302 Times cited (down) 1 Open Access Not_Open_Access
Notes We acknowledge financial support from the European Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowship within H2020 (Grant Agreement 702604). This work was carried out in part using the Turing HPC infrastructure at the CalcUA core facility of the Universiteit Antwerpen, a division of the Flemish Supercomputer Center VSC, funded by the Hercules Foundation, the Flemish Government (department EWI) and the University of Antwerp. Approved Most recent IF: 3.302
Call Number PLASMANT @ plasmant @c:irua:155506 Serial 5069
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Author Kolev, S.; Bogaerts, A.
Title Three-dimensional modeling of energy transport in a gliding arc discharge in argon Type A1 Journal Article
Year 2018 Publication Plasma Sources Science & Technology Abbreviated Journal Plasma Sources Sci T
Volume 27 Issue 12 Pages 125011
Keywords A1 Journal Article; gliding arc discharge, sliding arc discharge, energy transport, fluid plasma model, atmospheric pressure plasmas; Plasma, laser ablation and surface modeling Antwerp (PLASMANT) ;
Abstract In this work we study energy transport in a gliding arc discharge with two diverging flat

electrodes in argon gas at atmospheric pressure. The discharge is ignited at the shortest electrode

gap and it is pushed downstream by a forced gas flow. The current values considered are

relatively low and therefore a non-equilibrium plasma is produced. We consider two cases, i.e.

with high and low discharge current (28 mA and 2.8mA), and a constant gas flow of 10 lmin −1 ,

with a significant turbulent component to the velocity. The study presents an analysis of the

various energy transport mechanisms responsible for the redistribution of Joule heating to the

plasma species and the moving background gas. The objective of this work is to provide a

general understanding of the role of the different energy transport mechanisms in arc formation

and sustainment, which can be used to improve existing or new discharge designs. The work is

based on a three-dimensional numerical model, combining a fluid plasma model, the shear stress

transport Reynolds averaged Navier–Stokes turbulent gas flow model, and a model for gas

thermal balance. The obtained results show that at higher current the discharge is constricted

within a thin plasma column several hundred kelvin above room temperature, while in the low-

current discharge the combination of intense convective cooling and low Joule heating prevents

discharge contraction and the plasma column evolves to a static non-moving diffusive plasma,

continuously cooled by the flowing gas. As a result, the energy transport in the two cases is

determined by different mechanisms. At higher current and a constricted plasma column, the

plasma column is cooled mainly by turbulent transport, while at low current and an unconstricted

plasma, the major cooling mechanism is energy transport due to non-turbulent gas convection. In

general, the study also demonstrates the importance of turbulent energy transport in

redistributing the Joule heating in the arc and its significant role in arc cooling and the formation

of the gas temperature profile. In general, the turbulent energy transport lowers the average gas

temperature in the arc, thus allowing additional control of thermal non-equilibrium in the

discharge.
Address
Corporate Author Thesis
Publisher Place of Publication Editor
Language Wos 000454555600005 Publication Date 2018-12-28
Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title
Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN 1361-6595 ISBN Additional Links UA library record; WoS full record; WoS citing articles
Impact Factor 3.302 Times cited (down) Open Access Not_Open_Access
Notes This work was supported by the European Regional Devel- opment Fund within the Operational Programme ’Science and Education for Smart Growth 2014 – 2020’ under the Project CoE ’National center of mechatronics and clean technologies’ BG05M2OP001-1.001-0008-C01, and by the Flemish Fund for Scientific Research (FWO); grant no G.0383.16N. Approved Most recent IF: 3.302
Call Number PLASMANT @ plasmant @c:irua:155973 Serial 5140
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Author Sun, S.R.; Wang, H.X.; Bogaerts, A.
Title Chemistry reduction of complex CO2chemical kinetics: application to a gliding arc plasma Type A1 Journal article
Year 2020 Publication Plasma Sources Science & Technology Abbreviated Journal Plasma Sources Sci T
Volume 29 Issue 2 Pages 025012
Keywords A1 Journal article; Plasma Lab for Applications in Sustainability and Medicine – Antwerp (PLASMANT)
Abstract A gliding arc (GA) plasma has great potential for CO2 conversion into value-added chemicals, because of its high energy efficiency. To improve the application, a 2D/3D fluid model is needed to investigate the CO2 conversion mechanisms in the actual discharge geometry. Therefore, the complex CO2 chemical kinetics description must be reduced due to the huge computational cost associated with 2D/3D models. This paper presents a chemistry reduction method for CO2 plasmas, based on the so-called directed relation graph method. Depending on the defined threshold values, some marginal species are identified. By means of a sensitivity analysis, we can further reduce the chemistry set by removing one by one the marginal species. Based on the socalled flux-sensitivity coupling, we obtain a reduced CO2 kinetics model, consisting of 36 or 15 species (depending on whether the 21 asymmetric mode vibrational states of CO2 are explicitly included or lumped into one group), which is applied to a GA discharge. The results are compared with those predicted with the full chemistry set, and very good agreement is reached. Moreover, the range of validity of the reduced CO2 chemistry set is checked, telling us that this reduced set is suitable for low power GA discharges. Finally, the time and spatial evolution of the CO2 plasma characteristics are presented, based on a 2D model with the reduced kinetics.
Address
Corporate Author Thesis
Publisher Place of Publication Editor
Language Wos 000525600600001 Publication Date 2020-02-11
Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title
Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN 1361-6595 ISBN Additional Links UA library record; WoS full record; WoS citing articles
Impact Factor 3.8 Times cited (down) Open Access
Notes We acknowledge financial support from the Fund for Scientific Research Flanders (FWO; Grant No. G.0383.16 N). The calculations were performed using the Turing HPC infrastructure at the CalcUA core facility of the Universiteit Antwerpen (UAntwerpen), a division of the Flemish Supercomputer Center VSC, funded by the Hercules Foundation, the Flemish Government (department EWI) and the UAntwerpen. This work was also supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China. (Grant Nos. 11735004, 11575019). SR Sun thanks the financial support from the National Postdoctoral Program for Innovative Talents (BX20180029). Approved Most recent IF: 3.8; 2020 IF: 3.302
Call Number PLASMANT @ plasmant @c:irua:167135 Serial 6338
Permanent link to this record
 

 
Author van ‘t Veer, K.; Reniers, F.; Bogaerts, A.
Title Zero-dimensional modeling of unpacked and packed bed dielectric barrier discharges: the role of vibrational kinetics in ammonia synthesis Type A1 Journal article
Year 2020 Publication Plasma Sources Science & Technology Abbreviated Journal Plasma Sources Sci T
Volume 29 Issue 4 Pages 045020
Keywords A1 Journal article; Plasma Lab for Applications in Sustainability and Medicine – Antwerp (PLASMANT)
Abstract We present a zero-dimensional plasma kinetics model, including both surface and gas phase kinetics, to determine the role of vibrationally excited states in plasma-catalytic ammonia synthesis. We defined a new method to systematically capture the conditions of dielectric barrier discharges (DBDs), including those found in packed bed DBDs. We included the spatial and temporal nature of such discharges by special consideration of the number of micro-discharges in the model. We introduce a parameter that assigns only a part of the plasma power to the microdischarges, to scale the model conditions from filamentary to uniform plasma. Because of the spatial and temporal behaviour of the micro-discharges, not all micro-discharges occurring in the plasma reactor during a certain gas residence time are affecting the molecules. The fraction of power considered in the model ranges from 0.005 %, for filamentary plasma, to 100 %, for uniform plasma. If vibrational excitation is included in the plasma chemistry, these different conditions, however, yield an ammonia density that is only varying within one order of magnitude. At only 0.05 % of the power put into the uniform plasma component, a model neglecting vibrational excitation clearly does not result in adequate amounts of ammonia. Thus, our new model, which accounts for the concept in which not all the power is deposited by the micro-discharges, but some part may also be distributed in between them, suggests that vibrational kinetic processes are really important in (packed bed) DBDs. Indeed, vibrational excitation takes place in both the uniform plasma between the micro-discharges and in the strong micro-discharges, and is responsible for an increased N2 dissociation rate. This is shown here for plasma-catalytic ammonia synthesis, but might also be valid for other gas conversion applications.
Address
Corporate Author Thesis
Publisher Place of Publication Editor
Language Wos 000570241500001 Publication Date 2020-04-09
Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title
Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN 1361-6595 ISBN Additional Links UA library record; WoS full record; WoS citing articles
Impact Factor 3.8 Times cited (down) Open Access
Notes This research was supported by the Excellence of Science FWO-FNRS project (FWO grant ID GoF9618n, EOS ID 30505023). The calculations were performed using the Turing HPC infrastructure at the CalcUA core facility of the Universiteit Antwerpen (UAntwerpen), a division of the Flemish Supercomputer Center VSC, funded by the Hercules Foundation, the Flemish Government (department EWI) and the UAntwerpen. The authors would also like to thank Dr. Fatme Jardali for the discussions on plasma kinetic modelling and Dr. Jungmi Hong and Dr. Anthony B. Murphy for their aid in the calculation of the diffusion coefficients. Approved Most recent IF: 3.8; 2020 IF: 3.302
Call Number PLASMANT @ plasmant @c:irua:168097 Serial 6359
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Author Zhang, H.; Zhang, H.; Trenchev, G.; Li, X.; Wu, Y.; Bogaerts, A.
Title Multi-dimensional modelling of a magnetically stabilized gliding arc plasma in argon and CO2 Type A1 Journal article
Year 2020 Publication Plasma Sources Science & Technology Abbreviated Journal Plasma Sources Sci T
Volume 29 Issue 4 Pages 045019
Keywords A1 Journal article; Plasma Lab for Applications in Sustainability and Medicine – Antwerp (PLASMANT)
Abstract This study focuses on a magnetically stabilized gliding arc (MGA) plasma. Two fully coupled flow-plasma models (in 3D and 2D) are presented. The 3D model is applied to compare the arc dynamics of the MGA with a traditional gas-driven gliding arc. The 2D model is used for a detailed parametric study on the effect of the external magnetic field. The results show that the relative velocity between the plasma and feed gas is generated due to the Lorentz force, which can increase the plasma-treated gas fraction. The magnetic field also helps to decrease the gas temperature by enhancing heat transfer and to increase the electron number density. This work shows the potential of an external magnetic field to control the gliding arc behavior, for enhanced gas conversion at low gas flow rates.
Address
Corporate Author Thesis
Publisher Place of Publication Editor
Language Wos 000570241800001 Publication Date 2020-04-09
Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title
Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN 1361-6595 ISBN Additional Links UA library record; WoS full record; WoS citing articles
Impact Factor 3.8 Times cited (down) Open Access
Notes Fonds Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek, G.0383.16N ; National Natural Science Foundation of China, 51706204 51707144 ; State Key Laboratory of Electrical Insulation and Power Equipment, EIPE19302 ; The authors acknowledge financial support from the Fund for Scientific Research—Flanders (FWO; Grant G.0383.16 N), National Natural Science Foundation of China under Grant Nos. 51706204, 51707144, and State Key Laboratory of Electrical Insulation and Power Equipment (EIPE19302). The calculations were performed using the Turing HPC infrastructure at the CalcUA core facility of Universiteit Antwerpen, a division of the Flemish Supercomputer Center VSC, funded by the Hercules Foundation, the Flemish Government (Department EWI), and Universiteit Antwerpen. Finally, Hantian Zhang acknowledges financial support from the China Scholarship Council. Approved Most recent IF: 3.8; 2020 IF: 3.302
Call Number PLASMANT @ plasmant @c:irua:169218 Serial 6360
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Author Verheyen, C.; Silva, T.; Guerra, V.; Bogaerts, A.
Title The effect of H2O on the vibrational populations of CO2in a CO2/H2O microwave plasma: a kinetic modelling investigation Type A1 Journal article
Year 2020 Publication Plasma Sources Science & Technology Abbreviated Journal Plasma Sources Sci T
Volume 29 Issue 9 Pages 095009
Keywords A1 Journal article; Plasma Lab for Applications in Sustainability and Medicine – Antwerp (PLASMANT)
Abstract Plasma has been studied for several years to convert CO2 into value-added products. If CO2 could be converted in the presence of H2O as a cheap H-source for making syngas and oxygenates, it would mimic natural photosynthesis. However, CO2/H2O plasmas have not yet been extensively studied, not by experiments, and certainly not computationally. Therefore, we present here a kinetic modelling study to obtain a greater understanding of the vibrational kinetics of a CO2/H2O microwave plasma. For this purpose, we first created an electron impact cross section set for H2O, using a swarm-derived method. We added the new cross section set and CO2/H2O-related chemistry to a pure CO2 model. While it was expected that H2O addition mainly causes quenching of the CO2 asymmetric mode vibrational levels due to the additional CO2/H2O vibrational-translational relaxation, our model shows that the modifications in the vibrational kinetics are mainly induced by the strong electron dissociative attachment to H2O molecules, causing a reduction in electron density, and the corresponding changes in the input of energy into the CO2 vibrational levels by electron impact processes.
Address
Corporate Author Thesis
Publisher Place of Publication Editor
Language Wos 000570601300001 Publication Date 2020-09-16
Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title
Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN 1361-6595 ISBN Additional Links UA library record; WoS full record; WoS citing articles
Impact Factor 3.8 Times cited (down) Open Access
Notes Fonds Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek, 1184820N ; Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia, under projects UIDB/50010/2020 and ; This research was supported by FWO–PhD fellowshipaspirant, Grant 1184820N. VG and TS were partially supported by the Portuguese FCT, under projects UIDB/50010/2020 and UIDP/50010/2020 Approved Most recent IF: 3.8; 2020 IF: 3.302
Call Number PLASMANT @ plasmant @c:irua:172011 Serial 6433
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Author Kelly, S.; van de Steeg, A.; Hughes, A.; van Rooij, G.; Bogaerts, A.
Title Thermal instability and volume contraction in a pulsed microwave N2plasma at sub-atmospheric pressure Type A1 Journal article
Year 2021 Publication Plasma Sources Science & Technology Abbreviated Journal Plasma Sources Sci T
Volume 30 Issue 5 Pages 055005
Keywords A1 Journal article; Plasma Lab for Applications in Sustainability and Medicine – Antwerp (PLASMANT)
Abstract We studied the evolution of an isolated pulsed plasma in a vortex flow stabilised microwave (MW) discharge in N2 at 25 mbar via the combination of 0D kinetics modelling, iCCD imaging and laser scattering diagnostics. Quenching of electronically excited N2 results in fast gas heating and the onset of a thermal-ionisation instability, contracting the discharge volume. The onset of a thermal-ionisation instability driven by vibrational excitation pathways is found to facilitate significantly higher N2 conversion (i.e. dissociation to atomic N2 ) compared to pre-instability conditions, emphasizing the potential utility of this dynamic in future fixation applications. The instability onset is found to be instigated by super-elastic heating of the electron energy distribution tail via vibrationally excited N2 . Radial contraction of the discharge to the skin depth is found to occur post instability, while the axial elongation is found to be temporarily contracted during the thermal instability onset. An increase in power reflection during the thermal instability onset eventually limits the destabilising effects of exothermic electronically excited N2 quenching. Translational and vibrational temperature reach a quasi-non-equilibrium after the discharge contraction, with translational temperatures reaching ∼1200 K at the pulse end, while vibrational temperatures are found in near equilibrium with the electron energy (1 eV, or ∼11 600 K). This first description of the importance of electronically excited N2 quenching in thermal instabilities gives an additional fundamental understanding of N2 plasma behaviour in pulsed MW context, and thereby brings the eventual implementation of this novel N2 fixation method one step closer.
Address
Corporate Author Thesis
Publisher Place of Publication Editor
Language Wos 000648710900001 Publication Date 2021-05-01
Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title
Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN 0963-0252 ISBN Additional Links UA library record; WoS full record; WoS citing articles
Impact Factor 3.302 Times cited (down) Open Access OpenAccess
Notes Stichting voor de Technische Wetenschappen, 733.000.002 ; Fonds Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek, 30505023 GoF9618n ; H2020 European Research Council, 810182 ; H2020 Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions, 813393 838181 ; SK & AB acknowledge financial support by the European Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowship ‘PENFIX’ within Horizon 2020 (Grant No. 838181), the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (Grant Agreement No. 810182—SCOPE ERC Synergy project), and the Excellence of Science FWO-FNRS project (FWO Grant ID GoF9618n, EOS ID 30505023). The calculations were performed using the Turing HPC infrastructure at the CalcUA core facility of the Universiteit Antwerpen (UAntwerpen), a division of the Flemish Supercomputer Centre VSC, funded by the Hercules Foundation, the Flemish Government (department EWI) and the UAntwerpen. SK and AB would like to thank Mr Luc van ’t dack, Dr Karen Leyssens and Ing. Karel Venken for their technical assistance. AvdS, AH and GvR are grateful to Ampleon for the use of their solid-state microwave amplifier units and acknowledge financial support from the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO Grant No. 733.000.002) in the framework of the CO2 -to-products programme with kind support from Shell, and the ENW PPP Fund for the top sectors. This project has been partially funded by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme ‘Pioneer’ under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Grant Agreement No. 813393. Approved Most recent IF: 3.302
Call Number PLASMANT @ plasmant @c:irua:178122 Serial 6759
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Author Bahnamiri, O.S.; Verheyen, C.; Snyders, R.; Bogaerts, A.; Britun, N.
Title Nitrogen fixation in pulsed microwave discharge studied by infrared absorption combined with modelling Type A1 Journal Article;nitrogen fixation
Year 2021 Publication Plasma Sources Science & Technology Abbreviated Journal Plasma Sources Sci T
Volume 30 Issue 6 Pages 065007
Keywords A1 Journal Article;nitrogen fixation; pulsed microwave discharge; FTIR spectroscopy; discharge modelling; vibrational excitation; NO yield; energy cost; Plasma, laser ablation and surface modeling Antwerp (PLASMANT) ;
Abstract A pulsed microwave surfaguide discharge operating at 2.45 GHz was used for the conversion of molecular nitrogen into valuable compounds in several gas mixtures: N2 :O2 , N2 :O2 :CO2 and N2 :CO2 . The ro-vibrational absorption bands of the molecular species were monitored by a Fourier transform infrared apparatus in the post-discharge region in order to evaluate the relative number density of species, specifically NO production. The effects of specific energy input, pulse frequency, gas flow fraction, gas admixture and gas flow rate were studied for better understanding and optimization of the NO production yield and the corresponding energy cost (EC). By both the experiment and modelling, a highest NO yield is obtained at N2 :O2 (1:1) gas ratio in N2 :O2 mixture. The NO yield reveals a small growth followed by saturation when pulse repetition frequency increases. The energy efficiency start decreasing after the energy input reaches about 5 eV/molec, whereas the NO yield rises steadily at the same time. The lowest EC of about 8 MJ mol−1 corresponding to the yield and the energy efficiency of about 7% and 1% are found, respectively, in an optimum discharge condition in our case.
Address
Corporate Author Thesis
Publisher Place of Publication Editor
Language Wos 000659671000001 Publication Date 2021-06-01
Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title
Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN 0963-0252 ISBN Additional Links UA library record; WoS full record; WoS citing articles
Impact Factor 3.302 Times cited (down) Open Access OpenAccess
Notes Fonds De La Recherche Scientifique—FNRS, EOS O005118F ; The research is supported by the FNRS-FWO project ‘NITROPLASM’, EOS O005118F. O Samadi also acknowledges PhD student F Manaigo for cooperation in doing the additional measurements. Approved Most recent IF: 3.302
Call Number PLASMANT @ plasmant @c:irua:179170 Serial 6798
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Author Zhang, L.; Heijkers, S.; Wang, W.; Martini, L.M.; Tosi, P.; Yang, D.; Fang, Z.; Bogaerts, A.
Title Dry reforming of methane in a nanosecond repetitively pulsed discharge: chemical kinetics modeling Type A1 Journal article
Year 2022 Publication Plasma Sources Science & Technology Abbreviated Journal Plasma Sources Sci T
Volume 31 Issue 5 Pages 055014
Keywords A1 Journal article; Engineering sciences. Technology; Plasma Lab for Applications in Sustainability and Medicine – Antwerp (PLASMANT)
Abstract Nanosecond pulsed discharge plasma shows a high degree of non-equilibrium, and exhibits relatively high conversions in the dry reforming of methane. To further improve the application, a good insight of the underlying mechanisms is desired. We developed a chemical kinetics model to explore the underlying plasma chemistry in nanosecond pulsed discharge. We compared the calculated conversions and product selectivities with experimental results, and found reasonable agreement in a wide range of specific energy input. Hence, the chemical kinetics model is able to provide insight in the underlying plasma chemistry. The modeling results predict that the most important dissociation reaction of CO<sub>2</sub>and CH<sub>4</sub>is electron impact dissociation. C<sub>2</sub>H<sub>2</sub>is the most abundant hydrocarbon product, and it is mainly formed upon reaction of two CH<sub>2</sub>radicals. Furthermore, the vibrational excitation levels of CO<sub>2</sub>contribute for 85% to the total dissociation of CO<sub>2</sub>.
Address
Corporate Author Thesis
Publisher Place of Publication Editor
Language Wos 000797660000001 Publication Date 2022-05-01
Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title
Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN 0963-0252 ISBN Additional Links UA library record; WoS full record
Impact Factor 3.8 Times cited (down) Open Access OpenAccess
Notes China Scholarship Council; National Natural Science Foundation of China, 11965018 ; This work is supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 52077026, 11965018), L Zhang was also supported by the China Scholarship Council (CSC). Data availability statement The data that support the findings of this study are available upon reasonable request from the authors. Approved Most recent IF: 3.8
Call Number PLASMANT @ plasmant @c:irua:188537 Serial 7069
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Author Bogaerts, A.; Neyts, E.C.; Guaitella, O.; Murphy, A.B.
Title Foundations of plasma catalysis for environmental applications Type A1 Journal article
Year 2022 Publication Plasma Sources Science & Technology Abbreviated Journal Plasma Sources Sci T
Volume Issue Pages
Keywords A1 Journal article; Plasma Lab for Applications in Sustainability and Medicine – Antwerp (PLASMANT)
Abstract Plasma catalysis is gaining increasing interest for various applications, but the underlying mechanisms are still far from understood. Hence, more fundamental research is needed to understand these mechanisms. This can be obtained by both modelling and experiments. This foundations paper describes the fundamental insights in plasma catalysis, as well as efforts to gain more insights by modelling and experiments. Furthermore, it discusses the state-of-the-art of the major plasma catalysis applications, as well as successes and challenges of technology transfer of these applications.
Address
Corporate Author Thesis
Publisher Place of Publication Editor
Language Wos 000804396200001 Publication Date 2022-03-21
Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title
Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN 0963-0252 ISBN Additional Links UA library record; WoS full record; WoS citing articles
Impact Factor 3.8 Times cited (down) Open Access OpenAccess
Notes H2020 Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions, 823745 ; H2020 European Research Council, 810182 ; We acknowldege financial support from the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation programme (Grant Agreement No. 810182 – SCOPE ERC Synergy project) and the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation programme under the Marie Sklodowska-Curie Grant Agreement No. 813393 (PIONEER). Approved Most recent IF: 3.8
Call Number PLASMANT @ plasmant @c:irua:188539 Serial 7070
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Author Biondo, O.; Fromentin, C.; Silva, T.; Guerra, V.; van Rooij, G.; Bogaerts, A.
Title Insights into the limitations to vibrational excitation of CO2: validation of a kinetic model with pulsed glow discharge experiments Type A1 Journal article
Year 2022 Publication Plasma Sources Science & Technology Abbreviated Journal Plasma Sources Sci T
Volume 31 Issue 7 Pages 074003
Keywords A1 Journal article; Plasma Lab for Applications in Sustainability and Medicine – Antwerp (PLASMANT)
Abstract Vibrational excitation represents an efficient channel to drive the dissociation of CO<sub>2</sub>in a non-thermal plasma. Its viability is investigated in low-pressure pulsed discharges, with the intention of selectively exciting the asymmetric stretching mode, leading to stepwise excitation up to the dissociation limit of the molecule. Gas heating is crucial for the attainability of this process, since the efficiency of vibration–translation (V–T) relaxation strongly depends on temperature, creating a feedback mechanism that can ultimately thermalize the discharge. Indeed, recent experiments demonstrated that the timeframe of V–T non-equilibrium is limited to a few milliseconds at ca. 6 mbar, and shrinks to the<italic>μ</italic>s-scale at 100 mbar. With the aim of backtracking the origin of gas heating in pure CO<sub>2</sub>plasma, we perform a kinetic study to describe the energy transfers under typical non-thermal plasma conditions. The validation of our kinetic scheme with pulsed glow discharge experiments enables to depict the gas heating dynamics. In particular, we pinpoint the role of vibration–vibration–translation relaxation in redistributing the energy from asymmetric to symmetric levels of CO<sub>2</sub>, and the importance of collisional quenching of CO<sub>2</sub>electronic states in triggering the heating feedback mechanism in the sub-millisecond scale. This latter finding represents a novelty for the modelling of low-pressure pulsed discharges and we suggest that more attention should be paid to it in future studies. Additionally, O atoms convert vibrational energy into heat, speeding up the feedback loop. The efficiency of these heating pathways, even at relatively low gas temperature and pressure, underpins the lifetime of V–T non-equilibrium and suggests a redefinition of the optimal conditions to exploit the ‘ladder-climbing’ mechanism in CO<sub>2</sub>discharges.
Address
Corporate Author Thesis
Publisher Place of Publication Editor
Language Wos 000839466500001 Publication Date 2022-07-01
Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title
Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN 0963-0252 ISBN Additional Links UA library record; WoS full record; WoS citing articles
Impact Factor 3.8 Times cited (down) Open Access OpenAccess
Notes Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia, PLA/0076/2021 ; H2020 Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions, 813393 ; This research was supported by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation programme under the Marie Sklodowska-Curie Grant Agreement No. 813393 (PIONEER). V Guerra and T Silva were partially funded by the Portuguese ‘FCT-Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia’, under Projects UIDB/50010/2020, UIDP/50010/2020, PTDC/FISPLA/1616/2021 and EXPL/FIS-PLA/0076/2021. The calculations were performed using the Turing HPC infrastructure at the CalcUA core facility of the Universiteit Antwerpen (UAntwerpen), a division of the Flemish Supercomputer Center VSC, funded by the Hercules Foundation, the Flemish Government (department EWI) and the UAntwerpen. Approved Most recent IF: 3.8
Call Number PLASMANT @ plasmant @c:irua:190008 Serial 7106
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Author Tennyson, J.; Mohr, S.; Hanicinec, M.; Dzarasova, A.; Smith, C.; Waddington, S.; Liu, B.; Alves, L.L.; Bartschat, K.; Bogaerts, A.; Engelmann, S.U.; Gans, T.; Gibson, A.R.; Hamaguchi, S.; Hamilton, K.R.; Hill, C.; O’Connell, D.; Rauf, S.; van ’t Veer, K.; Zatsarinny, O.
Title The 2021 release of the Quantemol database (QDB) of plasma chemistries and reactions Type A1 Journal article
Year 2022 Publication Plasma Sources Science & Technology Abbreviated Journal Plasma Sources Sci T
Volume 31 Issue 9 Pages 095020
Keywords A1 Journal article; Plasma Lab for Applications in Sustainability and Medicine – Antwerp (PLASMANT)
Abstract The Quantemol database (QDB) provides cross sections and rates of processes important for plasma models; heavy particle collisions (chemical reactions) and electron collision processes are considered. The current version of QDB has data on 28 917 processes between 2485 distinct species plus data for surface processes. These data are available via a web interface or can be delivered directly to plasma models using an application program interface; data are available in formats suitable for direct input into a variety of popular plasma modeling codes including HPEM, COMSOL, ChemKIN, CFD-ACE+, and VisGlow. QDB provides ready assembled plasma chemistries plus the ability to build bespoke chemistries. The database also provides a Boltzmann solver for electron dynamics and a zero-dimensional model. Thesedevelopments, use cases involving O<sub>2</sub>, Ar/NF<sub>3</sub>, Ar/NF<sub>3</sub>/O<sub>2</sub>, and He/H<sub>2</sub>O/O<sub>2</sub>chemistries, and plans for the future are presented.
Address
Corporate Author Thesis
Publisher Place of Publication Editor
Language Wos 000895762200001 Publication Date 2022-09-01
Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title
Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN 0963-0252 ISBN Additional Links UA library record; WoS full record
Impact Factor 3.8 Times cited (down) Open Access OpenAccess
Notes Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council, EP/N509577/1 ; Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia, UIDB/50010/2020 ; Science and Technology Facilities Council, ST/K004069/1 ; National Science Foundation, OAC-1834740 ; Approved Most recent IF: 3.8
Call Number PLASMANT @ plasmant @c:irua:192845 Serial 7245
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