Systematic investigation of the barrier discharge operation in helium, nitrogen, and mixtures: discharge development, formation and decay of surface charges

As a logical extension to previous investigations of the barrier discharge (BD) in helium and nitrogen, the present work reports on the operation in any mixtures of both pure gases. Using a well-established plane-parallel discharge cell configuration allows to study the influence of the He/N2 mixing ratio on the formation of different discharge modes. Their characterization was made by measuring the discharge emission development together with the formation and decay of surface charges on a bismuth silicon oxide (Bi12SiO20, BSO) crystal. This was realized by the simultaneous application of the spatio-temporally resolved optical emission spectroscopy, and the electro-optic Pockels effect in combination with a CCD high speed camera. The existence diagram for diffuse and filamentary BDs was determined by varying the amplitude and shape of the applied voltage. Over the entire range of the He/N2 ratio, the diffuse mode can be operated at moderate voltage amplitudes whereas filamentation occurs at significant overvoltage and is favoured by a high voltage slew rate. Irrespective of the discharge mode, the overall charge transfer during a discharge breakdown is found to be in excellent agreement with the amount of accumulated surface charges. An exponential decay of the surface charge deposited on the BSO crystal is induced by LED illumination beyond a typical discharge cycle. During the decay process, a broadening of the radial profiles of positive as well as negative surface charge spots originating from previous microdischarges is observed. The investigations contribute to a better understanding of the charge accumulation at a dielectric.

[1]  J. Cambronne,et al.  Electrical model and analysis of the transition from an atmospheric pressure Townsend discharge to a filamentary discharge , 2005 .

[2]  N. Gherardi,et al.  Transition from glow silent discharge to micro-discharges in nitrogen gas , 2000 .

[3]  T. Panchenko.  Photo-and thermally induced optical absorption and photoconductivity of sillenite crystals , 2000 .

[4]  Karl H. Schoenbach,et al.  Non-Equilibrium Air Plasmas at Atmospheric Pressure , 2004 .

[5]  J. Behnke,et al.  Modelling of the homogeneous barrier discharge in helium at atmospheric pressure , 2003 .

[6]  C.R. Li,et al.  Effect of surface charge trapping in dielectric barrier discharge , 2008, 2009 IEEE International Conference on Plasma Science - Abstracts.

[7]  B. Obradović,et al.  Spectroscopic measurement of electric field in dielectric barrier discharge in helium , 2008 .

[8]  Hans-Erich Wagner,et al.  Influence of the applied voltage shape on the barrier discharge operation modes in helium , 2013 .

[9]  P. Ambrico,et al.  Charge trapping induced by plasma in alumina electrode surface investigated by thermoluminescence and optically stimulated luminescence , 2009 .

[10]  S. Nemschokmichal,et al.  metastable density in nitrogen barrier discharges: I. LIF diagnostics and absolute calibration by Rayleigh scattering , 2012 .

[11]  K. V. Kozlov,et al.  The barrier discharge: basic properties and applications to surface treatment , 2003 .

[12]  N. Gherardi,et al.  Physics and chemistry in a glow dielectric barrier discharge at atmospheric pressure: diagnostics and modelling , 2003 .

[13]  U. Kogelschatz,et al.  Collective phenomena in volume and surface barrier discharges , 2010 .

[14]  R. Brandenburg,et al.  The transition between different modes of barrier discharges at atmospheric pressure , 2009 .

[15]  K. V. Kozlov,et al.  Progress in the Visualization of Filamentary Gas Discharges. Part 1: Milestones and Diagnostics of Dielectric-barrier Discharges by Cross-correlation Spectroscopy , 2004 .

[16]  H. Wagner,et al.  A computational model of a barrier discharge in air at atmospheric pressure: the role of residual surface charges in microdischarge formation , 2006 .

[17]  Masuhiro Kogoma,et al.  Appearance of stable glow discharge in air, argon, oxygen and nitrogen at atmospheric pressure using a 50 Hz source , 1993 .

[18]  U. Stroth,et al.  Electric Charging in Dielectric Barrier Discharges with Asymmetric Gamma‐Coefficients , 2011 .

[19]  C. Mayoux,et al.  Experimental and theoretical study of a glow discharge at atmospheric pressure controlled by dielectric barrier , 1998 .

[20]  R. Brandenburg,et al.  Novel insights into the development of barrier discharges by advanced volume and surface diagnostics , 2013 .

[21]  K. V. Kozlov,et al.  Axial and radial development of microdischarges of barrier discharges in N2/O2 mixtures at atmospheric pressure , 2005 .

[22]  Shuhai Liu,et al.  Electrical modelling of homogeneous dielectric barrier discharges under an arbitrary excitation voltage , 2003 .

[23]  H. Purwins,et al.  Spatially resolved surface-charge measurement in a planar dielectric-barrier discharge system. , 2007, Physical review letters.

[24]  A. J. Cunningham,et al.  Quenching reactions of He(2 3S) and He2(2 3Σ) metastables in the presence of N2 and O2 , 1977 .

[25]  Gregory Fridman,et al.  Applied Plasma Medicine , 2008 .

[26]  B. Eliasson,et al.  Modeling and applications of silent discharge plasmas , 1991 .

[27]  N. Brenning,et al.  High-pressure pulsed avalanche discharges: formulas for required preionization density and rate for homogeneity , 1997 .

[28]  K. V. Kozlov,et al.  Spatio-temporally resolved spectroscopic diagnostics of the barrier discharge in air at atmospheric pressure , 2001 .

[29]  K. V. Kozlov,et al.  Investigation of the filamentary and diffuse mode of barrier discharges in N2/O2 mixtures at atmospheric pressure by cross-correlation spectroscopy , 2005 .

[30]  Yongchang Zhu,et al.  Highly sensitive measurement of surface charge distribution using the Pockels effect and an image lock-in amplifier , 1994 .

[31]  N. Gherardi,et al.  Recent advances in the understanding of homogeneous dielectric barrier discharges , 2009 .

[32]  I. Biaggio,et al.  Band mobility of photoexcited electrons in Bi12Si20 , 1997 .

[33]  H. Wagner,et al.  Surface charge accumulation and discharge development in diffuse and filamentary barrier discharges operating in He, N2 and mixtures , 2012 .

[34]  H. Fehske,et al.  Resonant charge transfer at dielectric surfaces , 2012, 1201.1724.

[35]  U. Kogelschatz.  Dielectric-Barrier Discharges: Their History, Discharge Physics, and Industrial Applications , 2003 .

[36]  R. Brandenburg,et al.  Diffuse barrier discharges in nitrogen with small admixtures of oxygen: discharge mechanism and transition to the filamentary regime , 2005 .

[37]  H. Fehske,et al.  Electron surface layer at the interface of a plasma and a dielectric wall , 2011, 1109.5107.

[38]  U. Kortshagen,et al.  Radial structure of a low-frequency atmospheric-pressure glow discharge in helium , 2002 .