μs and ns twin surface dielectric barrier discharges operated in air: from electrode erosion to plasma characteristics
Ryan T. Nguyen-Smith, Alexander Böddecker, Lars Schücke, Nikita Bibinov, Ihor Korolov, Q-Z Zhang, Thomas Mussenbrock, Peter Awakowicz, Julian Schulze
Abstract
Abstract Electrode erosion through continual long-timescale operation (60 min) of identical twin surface dielectric barrier discharges (twin SDBDs) powered either by a microsecond ( μ s) or a nanosecond timescale (ns) voltage source is investigated. The twin SDBDs are characterized using current–voltage measurements, optical emission spectroscopy, and phase integrated ICCD imaging. The temporally and spatially averaged gas temperature, consumed electric power, and effective discharge parameters (reduced electric field, and electron density) are measured. The μ s twin SDBD is shown to operate in a filamentary mode while the ns twin SDBD is shown to operate in a more homogeneous mode (i.e. non filamentary). Despite a similarity of the effective discharge parameters in both the μ s and ns twin SDBD, erosion of the nickel coated electrodes caused by operation of the twin SDBD differs strongly. Only the formation of a moderate number of nickel oxide species is observed on the surface of the ns twin SDBD electrodes. In contrast, the nickel coated electrodes are locally melted and considerably higher densities of oxides are observed around the eroded areas of the μ s twin SDBD, due to the filamentary nature of the discharge.