Lissajous figures of glow and filamentary dielectric barrier discharges under high frequency voltage at atmospheric pressure in helium

Dielectric barrier discharges (DBD) under 11.87 kHz voltages were carried out in helium or air at atmospheric pressure. Applied voltage and current pulses, Lissajous figures were measured, and discharge images were taken by ICCD in an exposure time of ns orders. Lissajous figures of glow and filamentary DBDs were investigated. The results show that the mode at the inception of the first pulse in a glow DBD, is a Townsend one, and that at each pulse peak is a glow one. Lissajous figure of glow discharges generated under a 11.87 kHz applied voltage is a quadrilateral with one step on the left-hand, right-hand sides respectively, and a set of parallel lines of the top and bottom sides. In the case of multi-pulse glow discharges, the number of steps on the left hand side or the right hand one of Lissajous figure is equal to the number of current pulses during each half cycle of the applied voltage. Lissajous figure of a filamentary DBD is approximately a parallelogram. A interpretation of the discharge characteristics is proposed.