Experimental investigation on large-area dielectric barrier discharge in atmospheric nitrogen and air assisted by the ultraviolet lamp

In this paper, ultraviolet radiation produced by the ultraviolet lamp is employed to supply pre-ionization for the dielectric barrier discharge in N2 or air at atmospheric pressure. The effect of the ultraviolet pre-ionization on improving the uniformity of the dielectric barrier discharge is investigated experimentally. The atmospheric pressure glow discharge of the large area (270 mm × 120 mm) is obtained successfully via the ultraviolet pre-ionization in atmospheric DBD in N2 when the gas gap decrease to 3 mm. Based on the emission spectra, the mechanism which ultraviolet pre-ionization improves the uniformity of the dielectric barrier discharge is discussed.