Electric and spectroscopic properties of argon-hydrogen RF microplasma jets at atmospheric pressure

Microplasma jets of argon-hydrogen (Ar-H-2) gas mixture were generated by 144.0 MHz radio-frequency (RF) waves at powers of 5W, 10W, 20W and 50W. The experimental setup employed creates stable microplasmas at atmospheric pressure from 5.0mm up to 20.0mm visual glow lengths. We have determined the rms voltages, the rms electric currents and the power absorptions of these microplasma jets. By making use of optical spectroscopy, the emission spectra of Ar-H-2 microplasma jets were recorded in the range 3060-8200 angstrom, in order to estimate the axial distribution profiles of electron density, rotational temperature, excitation temperature and hydrogen atomic temperature.