Importance

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Abstract

It is intended to provide a sterilizer, which aim is at efficiently sterilizing a subject such as a container by using active oxygen generated with the use of plasma, and a sterilization method using the same. In particular, it is intended to develop a technique for stably generating active oxygen with the use of plasma and thus provide a sterilizer, which enables, if necessary, stable plasma formation and active oxygen generation in the atmosphere and can inhibit thermal damages caused by the plasma on a subject to be sterilized, and a sterilization method using the same. A sterilizer wherein a gas (100), which contains at least one of active oxygen generated by converting oxygen gas into plasma and active oxygen generated by converting a gas other than oxygen into plasma and contacting the plasma with oxygen gas, is brought into contact with a subject (101) to thereby kill microorganism sticking to the subject, characterized in that a non-conductive gas channel tube (1) for introducing the gas to be converted into plasma and discharging into the atmosphere and a conductive antenna tube (2) located around the gas channel tube are provided, the antenna tube has a slit (3) in a definite length formed along the tube axis direction of the gas channel tube, and the antenna tube is irradiated with microwave to thereby convert the gas in the gas channel tube into plasma. In a preferable mode, the above sterilizer is characterized in that the slit has a length corresponding to an integral multiple of the half-wave length of the microwave to be used in the irradiation.

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First Claim