Effect of dielectric material on the uniformity of nanosecond pulsed dielectric barrier discharge

Dielectric barrier discharge(DBD)is considered as a promising technique to produce large volume uniform plasma at atmospheric pressure,and the dielectric barrier layer between the electrodes plays a key role in the DBD processes and enhancing discharge uniformity.In this work,the uniformity and discharge characteristics of the nanosecond(ns)pulsed DBD with dielectric barrier layers made of alumina,quartz glass,polycarbonate(PC),and polypropylene(PP)are investigated via discharge image observation,voltage-current waveform measurement and optical emission spectral diagnosis.Through analyzing discharge image by gray value standard deviation method,the discharge uniformity is quantitatively calculated.The effects of the space electric field intensity,the electron density(Ne),and the space reactive species on the uniformity are studied with quantifying the gap voltage Ug and the discharge current Ig,analyzing the recorded optical emission spectra,and simulating the temporal distribution of Ne with a one-dimensional fluid model.It is found that as the relative permittivity of the dielectric materials increases,the space electric field intensity is enhanced,which results in a higher Ne and electron temperature(Te).Therefore,an appropriate value of space electric field intensity can promote electron avalanches,resulting in uniform and stable plasma by the merging of electron avalanches.However,an excessive value of space electric field intensity leads to the aggregation of space charges and the distortion of the space electric field,which reduce the discharge uniformity.The surface roughness and the surface charge decay are measured to explain the influences of the surface properties and the second electron emission on the discharge uniformity.The results in this work give a comprehensive understanding of the effect of the dielectric materials on the DBD uniformity,and contribute to the selection of dielectric materials for DBD reactor and the realization of atmospheric pressure uniform,stable,and reactive plasma sources.

Experimental and numerical investigation on the uniformity of nanosecond pulsed dielectric barrier discharge influenced by pulse parameters

Nanosecond(ns)pulsed dielectric barrier discharge(DBD)is considered as a promising method to produce controllable large-volume and high activity low-temperature plasma at atmospheric pressure,which makes it suitable for wide applications.In this work,the ns pulse power supply is used to excite Ar DBD and the influences of the pulse parameters(voltage amplitude,pulse width,pulse rise and fall times)on the DBD uniformity are investigated.The gas gap voltage(Ug)and conduct current(Ig)are separated from the measured voltage and current waveforms to analyze the influence of electrical parameters.The spectral line intensity ratio of two Ar excited species is used as an indicator of the electron temperature(Te).The time resolved discharge processes are recorded by an intensified charge-coupled device camera and a one-dimensional fluid model is employed to simulate the spatial and temporal distributions of electrons,ions,metastable argon atoms and Te.Combining the experimental and numerical results,the mechanism of the pulse parameters influencing on the discharge uniformity is discussed.It is shown that the space electric field intensity and the space particles'densities are mainly responsible for the variation of discharge uniformity.With the increase of voltage and pulse width,the electric field intensity and the density of space particles increased,which results in the discharge mode transition from non-uniform to uniform,and then non-uniform.Furthermore,the extension of pulse rise and fall times leads to the discharge transition from uniform to nonuniform.The results are helpful to reveal the mechanism of ns pulsed DBD mode transition and to realize controllable and uniform plasma sources at atmospheric pressure.