Characteristics of surface glow discharge in a low-pressure supersonic gas flow

Kinetic particle-in-cell simulations are performed to examine the characteristics of the surface glow discharge in a supersonic nitrogen flow. The gas pressure is varied between 100 and 500 mTorr; the applied voltage, between −500 and −1000 V. The analysis focuses on the effect of boundary conditions at the dielectric barrier surrounding the electrodes on the electron energy distribution function. The potential on the dielectric is found by using a local balance condition for the electron and ion currents to the surface. The results of self-consistent simulations show that a negative potential on the dielectric substantially reduces the rate of high-energy electron loss from the bulk plasma and thus significantly changes the ionization rate, as well as plasma parameters and configuration.