HelixJet

HelixJet

Materials / Surfaces

The HelixJet is a capacitively coupled radio-frequency (RF) plasma source operating at atmospheric pressure. The RF power is applied to two double helix electrodes. The electrodes are placed outside a quartz tube fed by the working gas. The HelixJet has unique features highly relevant for practical applications. The innovative double helix electrode design enables extremely stable and homogeneous plasma conditions at low gas flow rates. This plays a crucial role for the quality and reproducibility of several applications, e.g.

High-speed thermal microscopy of plasma microprinting at atmospheric pressure

The HelixJet (https://www.inptdat.de/helixjet) was applied to simultaneous melting and plasma treatment of polyamide (PA 12) microparticles (diameter 60 µm) used conventionally for 3D printing by laser sintering. This proof-of-principle experiment demonstrated that gaussian thickness profiles of PA 12 can be printed using the HelixJet with a rapid rate of 200 mg/s (peak growth 2 mm/s) and with advantageous material properties. The key element of this novel process is the self-regulated balance between material melting and plasma quenching.

Materials / Surfaces