Prediction of atmospheric pressure glow discharge in dielectric-barrier system

A one-dimensional fluid model was used to investigate the breakdown mechanism and discharge mode in dielectric-barrier system. The results show that the dielectric barrier discharge mode depends strongly on the gas property (i.e., the electron multiplication). The atmospheric pressure dielectric barrier glow discharge could only be achieved in a gas (e.g., noble gas) in which the first Townsend ionization coefficient is sufficiently small and the electron multiplication does not rise up rapidly with the electric field, while could not be sustained in the gas (e.g., N(2) and O(2)) in which the electron multiplication is sensitive to the field. (C) 2010 American Institute of Physics. [doi: 10.1063/1.3453451]