Characteristics of a radio-frequency micro-dielectric barrier discharge array

Micro-dielectric barrier discharges (mDBDs) are known for being stable, high-pressure and non-thermal plasma sources. mDBD arrays consist of micro-plasma devices (10–100μm) in which the radio frequency (rf)-excited electrodes are covered by dielectrics. In certain applications, independent control of individual mDBDs in an array is required for charge extraction to treat dielectric surfaces. When using the mDBDs to produce plumes of charged species, there are potential direct or indirect interactions between the mDBD devices. In this paper, we discuss the characteristics of atmospheric mDBD arrays sustained in N2 with an O2 impurity using results from a two-dimensional simulation. The device of interest consists of a sandwich structure using layers of dc and rf biased electrodes to help shape the plume. We found that the adjacency of the mDBDs and the dielectric properties of the materials being treated are important to the interactions between mDBDs in the array. Scaling laws are presented for operating characteristics of these mDBD arrays as a function of material properties, geometry, driving voltage waveform and gas mixture. (Some figures may appear in colour only in the online journal)