Enhancement of Radio Frequency Plasma Plume by Pulsed Plasma Bullet at Atmospheric Pressure
Round 1
Reviewer 1 Report
The work entitled "Enhancement of radio frequency plasma plume by pulsed plasma bullet at atmospheric pressure" by Qianhan Han, Ying Guo,Yarong Zhang,Jing Zhang, and Jianjun Shi reveals a method of enhancement of the characteristics of the plasma plume of the RF discharge after the injection of a plasma bullet in a form of a high-amplitude voltage pulse. The authors investigate the optimum conditions depending on the duration and duty cycle of the pulse. It is shown that under certain parameters, the plasma plume increases from 2 mm to 6 mm, and the luminous intensity increases by a factor of 4.
The reviewer has a few comments on the manuscript:
- The authors limit the observation of the glow of helium to only one spectral region. It would be appropriate to reveal detailed spectral diagnostics in the various regions of the plasma jet. Measurement of the absolute values ​​of the intensity of the helium, oxygen lines, and other plasma components allows achieving a more detailed understanding of the plasma-chemical processes in this source. Such diagnostics would be a good foundation for constructing a detailed model of this discharge.
- The authors are asked to estimate such plasma parameters as the electron density and temperature and the gas temperature.
- The authors describe the propagation of a plasma bullet when a high-amplitude voltage pulse is applied. Fig. 2 shows that there is a propagation that is localized in a narrow region of space. Can the authors relate this phenomenon to the propagation of ionization waves, which is observed, for example, during a breakdown of a discharge gap? The picture of the evolution of the light intensity in the region of a pulsed discharge, shown in Fig. 2, is similar to the breakdown phenomenon.
- The quality of Fig. 5 and 6 should be improved. It would be more correct to convert all images to vector format.
The paper presents an interesting method for increasing the efficiency of an atmospheric pressure plasma jet. The obtained results have good potential for technological applications. The scientific side requires a more detailed analysis of the plasma-chemical processes occurring in the discharge. The presented experimental results are sufficient for publication. However, it would be interesting to have the authors respond to the reviewer's comments.
Author Response
Please see the attachment.
Author Response File: 
Author Response.pdf
Reviewer 2 Report
The paper is well written, the results are interesting, and it can be published as it is.
Author Response
Thank you very much for recognition of our work.
Reviewer 3 Report
On my opinion, this is an interesting paper describing quite important experimental results of investigations of generation of plasma due to a discharge in a gas media. The paper is relatively short and consists of two main parts, namely, description of the experimental installation (2) and results of the experiment (3).
The paper is clearly written, and its physical the component does not raise any questions. However, I would advice to the authors to improve the Introduction, which consists of only one paragraph and looks too short. In particular, it would be nice if the Authors add some more references describing the importance of their results from the point of view of applications.
Next, maybe Sect. 3 should be spitted into two sections. Actually, maybe, it would be better to organize a special section with some discussions of results of the experiments.
Note also that in the paper organized in the present form the Conclusion section should be 4 but not 5.
Taking into account these my comments, the paper can be accepted for the publication after minor revision.
Author Response
Please see the attachment.
Author Response File: Author Response.pdf
