Mechanism and characteristic of dielectric barrier multi-pulse glow discharge in helium at atmospheric pressure

Modes of dielectric barrier multi-pulse discharge were investigated under an 11.85 kHz voltage in helium at atmospheric pressure based on a fast-gated intensified charge coupled device (ICCD) camera. Electrical parameters of gas gap were calculated via the simplified circuit of dielectric barrier discharge for discussing the forming reason of multi-pulse discharge. The discharge evolution photographs show that physical process of the first pulse in an atmospheric helium multi-pulse discharge is from Townsend discharge to glow discharge, and that of the other subsequent current pulses is glow discharge. Discharge gap still maintains a weak glow discharge in the interval time between two consecutive current pulses. Experimental observations and simulation results are in good agreement. Multi-pulse discharge is proved to be the glow discharge and a co-evolution result of both surface charges and the applied voltage.