Plasma booster for plasma treatment installation

摘要

An arrangement for boosting or igniting a glow discharge plasma for coating workpieces has at least one hollow body of an electrically conductive material formed such that when an electric signal is applied to the hollow body at least in a certain pressure and voltage range, the geometric conditions for the ignition of a discharge in the interior of the hollow body are satisfied. The hollow body has at least one opening through which charge carriers can flow off into the environs of the arrangement in order to ignite and operate the plasma or to boost a plasma existing there. The arrangement has a mechanism which connects the hollow body electrically with the workpieces such that the hollow body is essentially at workpiece potential.