A method for the synthesis of microdiamonds from graphite in an argon arc using germanium as a catalyst is presented. Simple microdiamonds and diamonds of complex configuration are obtained....

The effect of the shape of the feeding voltage on the spatiotemporal characteristics of an atmospheric- pressure barrier microdischarge in argon is demonstrated using numerical simulations based on...

In this work, within the framework of a unified model for the discharge gap and electrodes, a comparative numerical analysis was carried out on the effect of evaporation of graphite anode material on the characteristics of the arc discharge in helium and argon. The effect of changing the plasma-forming ion, in which the ion of evaporated atomic carbon becomes the dominant ion, is demonstrated. For an arc discharge in helium, this effect is accompanied by a jump-like change in the dependence of the current density on voltage (CVC), and smoothly for a discharge in argon. With regard to the dynamics of the ignition of an arc discharge, it is shown that during the transition from glow discharge to arc in helium, the discharge parameters are also accompanied by an abrupt change, while in argon, this transition is smooth. This is due to the fact that the ionization potentials, as well as the ionization cross sections, differ significantly for helium and carbon, and are close in value for helium and argon. For various points on the CVC, the density distributions of the charged and neutral particles of an inert gas and evaporated gases are presented.

An original technique for the synthesis of germanium nanostructures in an electric arc argon plasma is described. The plasma–chemical synthesis of germanium nanotubes up to 100 μm long and up to 1 μm in diameter is performed by selecting the strength of the electric current, the pressure of the buffer gas, and the interelectrode distance. Individual nanotubes reach lengths of several mm. Unlike germanium nanotubes grown via CVD, the germanium nanotubes synthesized in this work have distinct shapes and sizes. They are separated from each other and can be easily manipulated. It is shown that this technique allows both germanium nanotubes and germanene to be grown.

Thermal characteristics of a direct-current plasma torch have been studied in the framework of numerical simulations of temperature fields in a plasma channel, cathode, and anode. It is established...