Evolution of discharge structure in capacitive radio-frequency atmospheric microplasmas

Conventional radio-frequency (rf) nonthermal atmospheric plasmas are generated in a millimeter gap. In this Letter, we present a self-consistent numerical study of rf atmospheric microplasmas in a submillimeter gap comparable to their sheath thickness. It is shown that the narrow electrode gap deforms the discharge structure, ultimately removing the bulk-plasma region and disabling electron trapping. Significantly, these properties permit rf atmospheric microplasmas to operate at very high current densities thus simultaneously achieving higher stability and greater chemical reactivity.