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Microcavity plasma devices are a new class of hybrid plasma/optoelectronic device in which a non-equilibrium low temperature plasma is spatially confined to a microcavity with a characteristic cross-sectional dimension of nominally 10-200 μm. Plasmas so confined are stable glows having nanoliter volumes and operating at gas pressures up to and beyond one atmosphere. Conventional mass production techniques can be used to fabricate arrays of microplasma devices having precisely-controlled microcavity dimensions and dielectric structures, thereby tailoring the electric field within the microcavity. Arrays of microcavity plasma devices have been demonstrated in a wide range of materials and device structures including Si, glass, and ceramics, but this presentation will focus on recent results in our laboratory in which arrays having active areas >20 cm2 have been realized with Al2O3/Al multilayer structures and plastic-based devices. Both are flexible and the latter are fully transparent. Furthermore, plasma channels having widths of 20 μm and aspect ratios >104:1 have been demonstrated. The performance of these arrays, and selected applications in displays, biomedical phototherapeutics, and photochemistry will be discussed. |