Local discharge and distribution of wall charge in coplanar dielectric barrier discharge

The local discharge and wall charge distribution on dielectric surface in coplanar dielectric barrier discharge have been studied experimentally by employing a segment-electrode system. The results show that the local discharge currents on the segment electrodes are different when the segments act as cathode and/or anode, but the charge transfers during the current pulses are symmetric on the correlative parts of the electrodes. The wall charge distribution and the wall voltage during afterglow are uniform on the dielectric layer above the segments near the coplanar gap, while they decrease outwards in the outer side of the electrode if the voltage supply is not high enough. The segment-electrode configuration provides a possible way to investigate the local processes of the discharge in dielectric barrier discharge. (c) 2006 American Institute of Physics.