Measurement of OH (X2Σ) in immediate vicinity of dielectric surface under pulsed dielectric barrier discharge at atmospheric pressure using two geometries of laser-induced fluorescence

Abstract

The behavior of the ground state OH radical was studied in humid air using pulsed surface dielectric barrier discharge. The validity of OH measurement in immediate vicinity of the dielectric surface was discussed using two geometries of laser-induced fluorescence (LIF) measurement, and surface distribution and temporal profiles of OH were examined. A comparison of parallel- and perpendicular-LIF techniques for OH measurement revealed that OH was mostly produced in a region several tens of μm above the dielectric surface. The surface distribution profile of OH agreed well with that of N2(C), and in both cases, the total production generated by a discharge pulse was proportional to the discharge energy. The OH local density in surface streamer channels was estimated to be 1.3 × 1015 cm−3 according to the decay rate of OH, which was similar to that in corona discharge. Additionally, the local density of OH remained constant regardless of discharge energies. These results indicate that the yield of OH increased with the discharge energy owing to expansion of the surface streamer region, increase in streamer radius or thickness or the number of branches, whereas the local density of OH in the streamer channel remained constant regardless of discharge energy.