Development of a substrate-invariant 2-D array of nanosecond-pulsed streamer discharges

Abstract

Two dimensional arrays of streamer discharges were developed using electrical discharge machining of stainless steel sheets and stacking them together with spacers to allow gas flow between the sheets. A nanosecond pulsing circuit, capable of delivering 2–40 kV pulses with pulse widths of >20 ns by using two spark gaps as switches, was developed as a simple tunable pulsing power supply. High resolution imaging of the plasma for uniformity across the array tips was conducted. Optical emission spectroscopy was used to characterize the species created as well as probe the temperature of the discharge for various substrates, voltage pulse durations, voltage pulse magnitudes, and gas flows. The discharge properties were found to be substrate independent for a wide variety of conditions.