Experimental Study of Nanosecond Pulsed Barrier Discharges in Air Manipulated by Pulse Width

Abstract

Nanosecond pulsed barrier discharges have received increasing attention due to their low gas temperature, high electron energy and high chemical reactivity, giving it great potential application prospects in thin-film deposition, surface modification, ozone production as well as gas and water purification. Better understanding of the mechanism of pulsed barrier discharges and clever manipulation of the discharge properties are of great importance. The effect of pulse width on barrier discharges in air was investigated in this paper by electrical characterization and simultaneous measurements of surface charge on the dielectric surface based on Pockels effect. Single pulsed barrier discharges with different pulse widths under needle-plane electrode and repetitive pulsed barrier discharges with different pulse widths under parallel plate electrode were performed. The pulse width had obvious effects on regulating pulsed dielectric barrier discharges. The negative discharges at the falling edge under both electrodes decreased with the decrease of the pulse width, as well as the diameter of negative charge spots on the dielectric surface. When the pulse duration was long, the discharges mainly concentrated on the edge of the electrode with high charge density. When a short pulse was applied, surface charges with low density distribute on the whole dielectric surface, being more uniform compared with the that under long pulse width. These observed results, that the different discharge behaviors under various pulse widths, indicated the possibility to modify the discharge breakdown and thereby control the discharge properties.