Evidence of the Influence of Plasma Jets on a Helium Flow into Open Air

Microplasma jets propagating in a helium flow surrounded by open air at ambient temperature have attracted the attention of many researchers for their putative ability to deliver high fluxes of reactive oxygen and nitrogen species to a target situated some centimeters away. This is of particular interest in biomedical applications. In this paper, we use Schlieren images to show that ignition of the plasma jet causes a reduction in the length of the laminar zone of the helium flow.