Influence of dielectric barrier discharges on low Mach number shock waves at low to medium pressures

For shock wave propagation in nonequilibrium plasmas, it has been shown that when the electron Debye length exceeds the shock wave discontinuity dimension, strong double layers are generated, propagating with the shock wave. Strong double layer formation leads to the enhancement of the local excitation, ionization, and local neutral gas heating which increases the shock wave velocity. It is shown that dielectric barrier discharges (DBD) in pure N-2 also increase the shock wave velocity and broaden the shock wave. The DBD is considerably more energy efficient in producing these effects compared to a dc glow discharge and can operate over a wide pressure range. It is shown that these effects are also operative in the pure N-2 discharge afterglow, allowing a wide range of pulse repetition frequencies. (C) 2005 American Institute of Physics.