Submillimeter dielectric barrier discharges at atmospheric pressure: edge effect

Dielectric barrier discharges in atmospheric pressure helium, argon, nitrogen, oxygen, and air have been studied. Discharges were generated in short gaps (d/spl les/1 mm) between two quartz plates with conducting coatings on their counter sides to strengthen the edge effect. It was found that a decrease in d leads to the degeneration of a volume barrier discharge into a barrier corona discharge. The role of this phenomenon in the formation of spatio-temporal patterns in short barrier discharges is discussed.