Study of atmospheric pressure glow discharge

Summary form only given. Atmospheric pressure glow discharges (APGD) in gases such as Helium, Argon and air were studied. APGD in Helium between two parallel plane electrodes covered with dielectric plates was simulated on the basis of one-dimensional fluid model and the parameters\´ distributions along the discharge channel were obtained. The development of an electron avalanche in one atmosphere air gap applied with high electric field of 1 kV/mm /spl sim/ 3 kV/mm was simulated and the possibility of the transition to filament (streamer) was assessed. In order to check the validity of "ion-trapping" in APGD, air gaps longer than 5 mm were tested with an increasing frequency of the applied voltage. Resistive barrier discharge (RBD) was also tested with barrier plates of different resistivities.