Single-Switch Transformer-Less Power Supply for Low Temperature Plasma Jet – 3.3 kV SiC MOSFET Opportunities

This work presents a simple power converter, without any high voltage transformer, able to supply and control a plasma jet based on dielectric barrier discharge. The converter, operating in pulsed current mode, requires a single power switch and is fed by a low voltage dc source. It can deliver very short duration pulses to the plasma jet with high current amplitude. The operating principle is explained by means of the state plane analysis and is validated with simulations and experimental results. The equations provided allow for the calculation during the design stage of important characteristics of the plasma jet as the peak voltage and the duration of the pulses. The power can be easily adjusted during experimentation to comply with the desired appearance of the plasma jet.