LAUSR

A diffuse He gas-confined barrier discharge insulated by an Ar gas layer instead of a solid dielectric is reported for the first time. It is unexpected to observe that the diffuse Ar plasma attached to the electrode is generated along with the He plasma. The Ar/He/Ar plasma layers with diffuse appearance are visually separated by dark space and thus form the stratified glow. The presence of the stratified mode is largely dependent on the applied voltage, the Ar flow rate and the diameter of the helium gas flow. As the diameter of the helium gas flow decreases from 2.5 mm to 0.9 mm, the discharge mode transits from a stratified glow to filamentary with the amplitude of the discharge current increasing from 0.28 mA to 3.8 A. High-speed photographs of the stratified glow show that the plasma is ignited at the He/Ar gaseous interface, and then expands uniformly towards both the He and Ar gas layers. After the plasma front in He gas layer is quenched at the opposite gaseous interface, the plasma volume starts expanding towards the periphery of the electrode, similar to the dielectric barrier glow discharge.