Dependence of discharge ignition on initial condition in atmospheric cascade glow discharges

A two-dimensional numerical fluid model was developed to study the effects of initial discharge conditions on the discharge dynamics and characteristics of atmospheric cascade glow discharge including dielectric barrier pulsed discharge and radio frequency (RF) discharge burst. In the dielectric barrier pulsed discharge, the second discharge in the pulse voltage falling phase develops faster than the first discharge in the pulse voltage rising phase, which is demonstrated by the spatiotemporal evolution of discharge and can be attributed to the initial discharge conditions in terms of electron and ion density and their spatial distribution. On the other hand, in the pulse modulated RF discharge coupled with pulsed discharge, the initial conditions of RF discharge can be influenced by the pulsed discharge. The ignition dynamics of RF discharge is compared with and without the pulsed discharge in terms of plasma densities and electric field to show the role of residual plasma species in the initial discharge conditions. It proposes that the discharge ignition both in the pulsed discharge and the RF discharge is dependent on the density and spatial profile of plasma species in the initial discharge conditions, which helps ignite and achieve stable operation of atmospheric glow discharge.