Generation and characteristics of the homogeneous dielectric barrier discharge in air under atmospheric pressure

The homogenous dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) in air under atmospheric pressure was generated using a μs oscillatory pulse power supply to drive the symmetric-columnar copper electrodes, and the epoxy served as dielectric barriers. The voltage and current waveforms of the homogenous DBD were measured, and lighting emission images were collected. With the established equivalent electrical model of homogenous DBD, the discharge parameters of homogenous DBD, such as equivalent capacitance, average discharge power, charge transport, average electron density and electron temperature were calculated. Furthermore, the change tendency and microscopic relationship among the voltage drop across air gap, the voltage drop across dielectric barrier, the discharge current and capacitive current were studied, and the discharge mechanism for generation of the homogenous DBD was discussed. Results showed that, with the experimental device developed by the authors of this paper, the homogenous DBD can be generated in the air gap less than 4 mm. Under the applied voltage of 8 kV, the power dissipated by the air gap with the homogeneous DBD is 31.45 W, and the average electron density and the electron temperature are 2.07 × 10¹² cm^-3 and 3.4 eV, respectively.