Pattern formation in dielectric barrier discharges with different dielectric materials

The influence of dielectric material on the bifurcation and spatiotemporal dynamics of the patterns in dielectric barrier discharge in argon/air at atmospheric pressure is studied. It is found that pattern bifurcation sequences are different with different dielectric materials. The spatiotemporal dynamics of the hexagonal pattern in dielectric barrier discharge depends on the dielectric material. The hexagon pattern with glass dielectric is an interleaving of two rectangular sublattices appearing at different moments. The hexagon pattern with quartz dielectric is composed of one set of hexagonal lattice discharging twice in one half cycle of the applied voltage, one is at the rising edge and the other at the falling edge. It results in that the accumulation of wall charges in individual microdischarges in a hexagon pattern with quartz dielectric is greater than that with glass dielectric, which is in agreement with the electron density measurement by Stark broadening of Ar I 696.54 nm. (C) 2011 American Institute of Physics. [doi:10.1063/1.3566003]