Dielectric Barrier Discharge and Its Applications

In order to comprehensively understand DBD,we reviewed the investigations of dielectric barrier discharge(DBD) by focusing on the physics related to the uniform discharge at atmospheric pressure.It is suggested that the best way to distinguish a uniform discharge from a filamentary one is to take a picture with an exposure time of about 10 ns.Even for a real uniform discharge,it is important to further distinguish a glow discharge from a Townsend discharge.The only way to get a uniform discharge at atmospheric pressure is to make the discharge at a lower electric field by increasing the seed electrons initiating the discharge.Recently,the uniform discharges at atmospheric pressure have been obtained in helium and nitrogen,i.e.,subnormal glow discharge in helium and Townsend discharge in nitrogen.Moreover,we briefly introduced three industrial applications of DBD plasmas,including the advanced ozone generator,continuous double-sided treatment of foil surface,plasma display panel.