Enhancement of Non-Equilibrium Atmospheric Pressure He Plasma Discharges by Using Silicon Diode for Alternating Current

In this paper, we report that enhanced He dielectric barrier discharges (DBDs) using simple and inexpensive device, such as Silicon Diode for Alternating Current (SIDAC) and high voltage transformer at commercial frequency. The SIDAC is designed for direct interface with the ac power line as fast switching and pulse devices. Here, discharge characteristics of He DBDs using SIDACs connected in series are studied experimentally. It can be obtained by using 15 series SIDACs that a rapid voltage change at the SIDAC breakover is dv/dt ∼20 kV/μsec and the pulsed DBD current with a duration of ∼200 nsec reaches ∼1 A, 100 times larger than that of the normal DBD without SIDACs. Emission intensity of He DBD is also increased strongly by series SIDACs to be ∼100 times larger compared without the SIDACs.