Modeling of glow discharge in dielectric barrier

Abstract

Numerical calculations of spatio-temporal characteristics of the homogeneous dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) in pure helium have been performed by means of a one-dimensional fluid model. The influence of the elementary processes on the discharge behavior has been studied by variation of the corresponding rate constants. The simulation and the analytical interpretation have been carried out for two basic modes of the homogeneous barrier discharge. The specificity of the glow discharge is the development of a cathode region and a positive column during the breakdown, as well as the presence of quasi-neutral plasma in subsequent phases. The positive column occurs because the shielding of the external field by the plasma is not instantaneous. The dependence of the discharge behavior on the external parameters, such as, the amplitude and frequency of the applied voltage, discharge gap width and thickness of dielectric barriers has been analyzed.