Pulsed Nanosecond Duration Discharge

Competitive advantage

• Technologies developed for the generation of nanosecond-duration plasma discharges. These plasmas can operate at very high voltages while maintaining cold plasma characteristics, as the pulse duration is too short for the plasma to transition to a spark under some conditions
• Laser-based diagnostics capable of nanosecond or shorter duration measurements of species concentration, temperature and electric field strength have also been developed

Impact

• These devices have a range of possible applications, including
• Fuel ignition systems
• Sterilisation of medical equipment, foods and liquids
• Destruction of contaminants in water
• Thin film deposition technologies

Successful applications

• Built and characterised nanosecond repetitively pulsed power supplies
• Measurements of temperature and species concentration during and immediately after the pulsed discharge occurs

Capabilities and facilities

• D1.5 nanosecond commercial pulser
• 80+ nanosecond variable duration pulser developed in-house