Abstract

We have fabricated several types of microdischarge devices and arrays, and from those, unique plasma operation conditions were observed.^1–3 In particular, as cavity dimensions are decreased from several hundreds to tens of microns, glow discharges are produced at gas pressures up to and beyond one atmosphere. Also, specific power loadings of the plasma can exceed 100 kW-cm⁻³ on a continuous basis. And, with the help of MEMS techniques, we are now able to integrate 900 microdischarge cavities having dimensions of (50 μm)² into 16 mm² of wafer area.^4–5 Furthermore, we have recently realized significantly increases in the lifetime of arrays and delivering power to independent sub-arrays. Based on these results, our laboratory has focused on downsizing the cavity dimensions and exploring the unique electrical and optical properties of these devices and designing new devices for photonics applications.

© 2002 Optical Society of America