Electrical and kinetical aspects of homogeneous dielectric-barrier discharge in xenon for excimer lamps

A pulsed dielectric-barrier discharge in xenon has been simulated for operating conditions typical to excimer lamps, in which the discharge is considered spatially homogeneous. The computer model developed is based on the xenon plasma chemistry, the circuit, and the Boltzmann equations. First, the validity of the physical model was checked and compared to experimental and theoretical works, and then the model is applied in the case of a sinusoidal voltage at period frequencies in the range of 50 kHz-2 MHz. The results obtained with the present description are in good agreement with experimental measurements and one-dimensional fluid prediction in terms of electrical characteristics and vacuum ultraviolet (vuv) emission. The effect of operation voltage, power source frequency, dielectric capacitance, as well as gas pressure on the discharge efficiency and the 172, 150, and 147 nm photon generation, under the typical experimental operating conditions and for the case of a sinusoidal applied voltage, have been investigated and discussed. Calculations suggest that the overall conversion efficiency from electrical energy to vuv emission in the lamp is greater than 38%, and it will be very affected at high power source frequency and high gas pressure with a significant dependence on the dielectric capacitance. (C) 2010 American Institute of Physics. [doi: 10.1063/1.3520368]