Jun-Chieh Wang receives Best Oral Paper Award for plasma research

Jun-Chieh (Jerry) Wang, a doctoral student in the Electrical Engineering graduate program, received a Best Oral Paper Award at the 8th Asia-Pacific International Symposium on the Basics and Applications of Plasma Technology (APSPT-8) for his research in plasma microdischarges, such as those found in every day laser printers.

The paper, The Charging of Photoconductors in Print Engines by Microplasmas, was co-authored by Jun-Chieh Wang and Prof. Mark J. Kushner from Michigan and the following researchers from Hewlett Packard Labs: Seongsik Chang, Napoleon Leoni, Henryk Birecki, Michael Lee, Tom Anthony, and Omer Gila.

This research studies the glow-like atmospheric pressure microdischarges created under specialized conditions in laser printers. These low-temperature microdischarges are actively studied by researchers for eventual use in a variety of applications, such as large-scale industrial processes.

Describing his research, Mr. Wang stated, “charge rollers (CR) are the most commonly used devices for surface charging of photoconductors (PC) in laser printer engines. The charging of the surface of PC is performed by a micro-dielectric-barrier-discharge (DBD) in the converging gap between the CR and PC. In this study, a multi-dimensional computer model, nonPDPSIM, was used to investigate the properties of atmospheric pressure microplasmas between the CR and PC print engines. Results of the simulation indicate that by varying the applied voltage and the speed of the PC surface, a uniform and periodic self-pulsing pattern on the PC surface can be obtained to explain the observed “alligator” pattern which is well-known in electrophotography (EP) community.”

Jun-Chieh Wang received his B.A. and M.S. in physics from National Cheng Kung University in 2005. Before coming to the University of Michigan, he worked on fusion plasma theory and ionosphere plasma phenomenon. His current research focuses on low temperature plasma technology and fundamental plasma physics.

He is advised by Mark Kushner, George I. Haddad Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science. Prof. Kushner is Director of the Michigan Institute for Plasma Science and Engineering (MIPSE), and the DOE Plasma Science Center.

This research was supported by Hewlett-Packard Innovative Research Program and the Department of Energy Office of Fusion Energy Science.