Realization of DC atmospheric pressure glow discharge without external airflow

• APGD (Atmosphere Pressure Glow Discharge) is realized without external airflow.
• A novel needle-to-cylinder electrode structure is designed to realize APGD.
• APGD is easily realized with the black spot on the cylinder surface.
• The discharge electrode is easy to fabricate by the MEMS technology.

A new needle-to-cylinder electrode structure with small gap (1.5 mm) was designed to realize the stable gas discharge in ambient air. The stable corona discharge and the stable glow discharge were realized without external airflow, which was proved by the discharge waveform stored in the oscilloscope, the discharge pictures recorded by the digital camera and the voltage–current plot. The image of the glow discharge showed that there was a negative glow region, Faraday dark space, a positive column region and an anode spot. Also the experiment and the COMSOL simulation showed that the needle with a diameter of 56.4 μm can realize the glow discharge while the needle with a diameter of 626 μm can not. The reasons for the realization of the glow discharge by the small gap between the needle and the cylinder were analyzed. It also shows that the glow discharge is easily realized with the black spot on the cylinder surface and a proper ballast resistor value (larger than 2 MΩ and less than 30 MΩ). The needle-to-cylinder electrode structure is easy to fabricate by MEMS technology, which can be used in portable analytical instruments.