2023/03/01 by Hans Höft, Markus M. Becker, Manfred Kettlitz +4 · 1 voice
Medicine · Engineering · #Plasma Applications and Diagnostics #Plasma Diagnostics and Applications #Electrohydrodynamics and Fluid Dynamics
paper · pdf · doi:10.1140/epjd/s10053-023-00601-z
openalex publication_date 2023/03/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/23
Abstract The effects of nitrous oxide (N 2 <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"> <mml:msub> <mml:mrow/> <mml:mn>2</mml:mn> </mml:msub> </mml:math> O) in nitrogen (N 2 <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"> <mml:msub> <mml:mrow/> <mml:mn>2</mml:mn> </mml:msub> </mml:math> ) on the development and morphology of sine-driven dielectric barrier discharges in a single-filament arrangement were studied. Detailed insight in the characteristics of the discharge and its development were obtained from electrical measurements combined with ICCD and streak camera recordings as well as numerical modelling. A miniaturised atmospheric pressure Townsend discharge (APTD) could be generated for admixtures up to 5 vol% N 2 <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"> <mml:msub> <mml:mrow/> <mml:mn>2</mml:mn> </mml:msub> </mml:math> O in N 2 <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"> <mml:msub> <mml:mrow/> <mml:mn>2</mml:mn> </mml:msub> </mml:math> although N 2 <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"> <mml:msub> <mml:mrow/> <mml:mn>2</mml:mn> </mml:msub> </mml:math> O is an efficient collisional quencher of metastable nitrogen molecules. Increasing the high voltage amplitude led to a transition into a hybrid mode with the generation of an intermediate filament in addition to the diffuse, non-constricted APTD. A time-dependent, spatially one-dimensional fluid model was applied in order to study the underlying mechanisms causing the diffuse discharge characteristics. It was found that even for small N 2 <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"> <mml:msub> <mml:mrow/> <mml:mn>2</mml:mn> </mml:msub> </mml:math> O admixtures, the associative ionisation of atomic nitrogen and oxygen (O + N( 2 <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"> <mml:msup> <mml:mrow/> <mml:mn>2</mml:mn> </mml:msup> </mml:math> P) → <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"> <mml:mo>→</mml:mo> </mml:math> NO + <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"> <mml:msup> <mml:mrow/> <mml:mo>+</mml:mo> </mml:msup> </mml:math> + e) is the major electron source sustaining the volume memory effect and is therefore the reason for the formation of a diffuse APTD. Graphical abstract