Sains Malaysiana 52(11)(2023): 3239-3251

http://doi.org/10.17576/jsm-2023-5211-16

Soft X-Ray Spectra of High Temperature Argon Plasma for Potential Cell Treatment

(Spektrum X-Ray Lembut Plasma Argon Suhu Tinggi untuk Rawatan Sel Berpotensi)

POH HUN SENG¹, YAP SEONG LING^1,*, TEOW SIN YEANG^2,3, TAN HAN YI¹ & YAP SEONG SHAN⁴

¹Plasma Technology Research Centre, Department of Physics, Faculty of Science, Universiti Malaya, 50603 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

²Department of Biology, College of Science, Mathematics, and Technology, Wenzhou-Kean University, Ouhai, Wenzhou, China 325060

³Department of Biological Sciences, College of Science, Mathematics, and Technology, Kean University, Union, New Jersey 07083

⁴Department of Physics, Xiamen University Malaysia, 43900 Sepang, Selangor, Malaysia

Received: 14 September 2023/Accepted: 24 October 2023

Abstract

A plasma pinch is created when the current sheath collapses onto the axis in a plasma focus discharge. The plasma focus produces a high temperature and high density plasma, emitting soft x-ray with energy in the range of kiloelectronvolt. The soft x-ray is suitable for the radiography of biological samples, or as the source for microscopy or absorption spectroscopy of tissues which are not visible to conventional x-ray. Similar sources are available only from synchrotron radiation facilities with fairly low brightness. The argon plasma pinch produced by a plasma focus was investigated. The x-ray spectra was resolved with a set of filtered detector for the range of 1 to 20 Å. The plasma electron temperature measured was within 3 keV to 10 keV, with typical plasma density of 10¹⁹/cm³. The discharge energy of 1.5 to 2.5 kJ at 1 mbar argon measured a peak current of 95 kA to 122 kA, and total soft x-ray energies of 22 to 52 J.

Keywords: Argon plasma; plasma focus; plasma pinch; soft x-ray; x-ray spectra

Abstrak

Jepitan plasma dihasilkan apabila sarung semasa runtuh ke paksi dalam nyahcas fokus plasma. Fokus plasma menghasilkan suhu tinggi dan plasma ketumpatan tinggi, memancarkan sinar-x lembut dengan tenaga dalam julat kiloelektronvolt. Sinar-x lembut sesuai untuk sampel biologi radiografi atau sebagai sumber untuk mikroskopi atau spektroskopi penyerapan tisu yang tidak boleh dilihat oleh sinar-x konvensional. Sumber yang sama hanya tersedia daripada kemudahan sinaran sinkrotron dengan kecerahan yang agak rendah. Jepitan plasma argon yang dihasilkan oleh fokus plasma telah dikaji. Spektrum sinar-x telah diselesaikan dengan satu set pengesan yang ditapis untuk julat 1 hingga 20 Å. Suhu elektron plasma yang diukur adalah dalam lingkungan 3 keV sehingga 10 keV dengan ketumpatan plasma biasa 10¹⁹/cm³. Tenaga nyahcas 1.5 hingga 2.5 kJ pada 1 mbar argon mengukur arus puncak 95 kA hingga 122 kA dan jumlah tenaga sinar-x lembut 22 hingga 52 J.

Kata kunci: Argon plasma; fokus plasma; jepitan plasma; spektrumsinar-x; sinar-x lembut

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*Corresponding author; email: yapsl@um.edu.my