Breakdown Manipulation of Pulsed-Driven Dielectric Barrier Discharges by Precise Shaping of High-Voltage Waveforms

Dielectric barrier discharges (DBDs) are a common tool for the generation of low-temperature, non-thermal plasmas at atmospheric pressure. The waveform of the applied high voltage (HV) is a crucial external controlling parameter to manipulate the breakdown of these discharges and, therefore, control the plasma properties [1], [2]. The purpose of this contribution is the investigation of the impact of specifically shaped HV pulses (i.e. different rise times, defined steps and plateaus within the slope, etc.) on the breakdown and development of DBDs in a single-filament arrangement. It consists of two pin electrodes, both covered with hemispherical dielectrics, which are separated by a 1 mm gas gap. The working gas is a binary N2−O2 mixture at atmospheric pressure. The shaping of the HV waveforms is achieved by using a custom-built solid-state, impedance-matched Marx generator [3].