Interplay of discharge and gas flow in atmospheric pressure plasma jets

Interplay of discharge and gas flow in the atmospheric pressure plasma jets generated with three different discharge modes [N. Jiang, A. L. Ji, and Z. X. Cao, J. Appl. Phys. 106 , 013308 (2009); N. Jiang, A. L. Ji, and Z. X. Cao, J. Appl. Phys. 108 , 033302 (2010)] has been investigated by simultaneous photographing of both plasma plumes and gas flows in the ambient, with the former being visualized by using an optical schlieren system. Gas flow gains a forward momentum from discharge except for the case of overflow jets at smaller applied voltages. Larger applied voltage implies an elongated plasma jet only for single-electrode mode; for dielectric barrier discharge jet the plume length maximizes at a properly applied voltage. These findings can help understand the underlying processes, and are useful particularly for the economic operation of tiny helium plasma jets and jet arrays.