Hydroxyl radical dynamics in a gliding arc discharge using high-speed PLIF imaging

Plasma discharges can be transient and randomly distributed where a few investigations have been carried out using laser-induced fluorescence to capture snapshots of plasma-produced radicals in the near vicinity of the discharge. Radical distribution dynamics, however, are challenging to study in situ with high spatial and temporal resolution to fully capture the interactions between the discharge and the gas. We here demonstrate a planar laser-induced fluorescence method that can capture molecular distributions of ground state hydroxyl radicals in a discharge plasma and follow how the distribution develops in time with a repetition rate of 27 kHz. The technique is demonstrated by monitoring, in real-time, how the tube-like distribution of ground state OH radicals, surrounding a gliding arc plasma, is affected by flow dynamics and how it develops as the high voltage is turned off at atmospheric pressure. The method presented here is an essential tool for capturing radical-distribution dynamics in situ of chemically active environments which is the active region of the plasma induced chemistry.