Propagation of multi-burst streamer in the hot gas channel

Abstract

We report the evolution of multi-burst filamentary streamer discharge generated by a Tesla coil power in normal air. The multi-burst discharge shows a self-similar pattern from successive branching discharge. The upstream streamer is also observed in the experiment with a floating electrode. The trajectory of the streamer produced in the second wave packet follows the pathway of the streamer produced in the first wave packet. The expanding speeds of the second burst streamers are found to be faster than the speeds of the first burst streamers. We show that the second (and the following) burst streamer propagates inside the hot gas channel generated by the first (and the previous) burst streamer. The rotational temperature of the nitrogen molecules in the hot gas channel generated by the streamer in the first wave packet was measured by the optical spectrum method. By interrupting the hot gas channel, the presence of the hot gas channel is found to be crucial for the propagation of the following burst streamer.