Characterization of the streamer regime in dielectric barrier discharges

The streamer regime of a dielectric barrier discharge device is studied by performing a detailed statistical analysis of current-voltage measurements in air. A wide bandwidth Rogowski coil, designed to work down to the nanoseconds time scale, is used to record the discharge current. The temporal structure of the latter is identified and characterized by its probability density distribution as a function of the applied voltage. The results suggest the existence of two discharge regimes, separated by a well defined voltage threshold, reflecting the different behaviors of the microdischarges. The autocorrelations of the discharge signal are evaluated as a function of the applied voltage, indicating the presence of strong correlations at short-time scales up to the order of 102 ns and residual correlations at longer times. The latter are shown to be due to the nonstationarity of the discharge process.