Repetitive nanosecond-pulse discharge in tip-grid gaps in atmospheric air

Recently, the generation of volume diffuse discharge under ultra-fast pulsed excitation attracted significant attention. In this paper, the discharge is generated in tip-grid gaps in air at atmospheric pressure using a solid-state pulse generator whose output pulse has a rise time of about 15ns and a full width at half maximum of 30-40ns. Both the characteristic and discharge mode are studied by the measurement of voltage-current waveforms and discharge images. The results show that the discharge during repetitive nanosecond-pulse excitation is inconsecutive, and the amplitude and shape of the measured discharge currents are not the same. The corresponding discharge images show that there are three discharge modes, i.e. diffuse, filamentary and diffuse -to- filamentary modes. In addition, the relationships between the discharge modes, applied voltage and the discharge current are obtained and discussed.