Related papers: Deviations from the local field approximation in n…
We use a three-specie fluid model of electric discharge in air to simulate streamer evolution from the avalanche-to-streamer transition to the collision of opposite-polarity streamers. We estimate the upper limit on the production of…
Radiation is important for the propagation of streamers in dielectric liquids. Photoionization is a possibility, but the effect is difficult to differentiate from other contributions. In this work, we model radiation from the streamer head,…
Streamers often constitute the first stage of dielectric breakdown in strong electric fields: a nonlinear ionization wave transforms a non-ionized medium into a weakly ionized nonequilibrium plasma. New understanding of this old phenomenon…
We investigate the dynamics of negative surface discharges in air through numerical simulations with a 2D fluid model. A geometry consisting of a flat dielectric embedded between parallel-plate electrodes is used. Compared to negative…
We recently have presented first physical predictions of a spatially hybrid model that follows the evolution of a negative streamer discharge in full three spatial dimensions; our spatially hybrid model couples a particle model in the high…
Photoionization plays a crucial role in achieving accurate quantitative predictions in SF6 streamer simulations, but accurate models for SF6 photoionization remains limited, motivating this paper. First, we develop a computational model for…
We develop an axial model for single steadily propagating positive streamers in air. It uses observable parameters to estimate quantities that are difficult to measure. More specifically, for given velocity, radius, length and applied…
In this paper we use a hydrodynamic minimal streamer model to study negative corona discharge. By reformulating the model in terms of a quantity called shielding factor, we deduce laws for the evolution in time of both the radius and the…
Photoionization fronts play a dominant role in many astrophysical situations, but remain difficult to achieve in a laboratory experiment. We present the results from a computational parameter study evaluating the feasibility of the…
We investigate streamer formation in the troposphere, in electric fields above the breakdown threshold. With fully three-dimensional particle simulations, we study the combined effect of natural background ionization and of photoionization…
We compare simulations and experiments of single positive streamer discharges in air at 100 mbar, aiming towards model validation. Experimentally, streamers are generated in a plate-plate geometry with a protruding needle. We are able to…
Streamers often constitute the first stage of dielectric breakdown in strong electric fields: a nonlinear ionization wave transforms a non-ionized medium into a weakly ionized nonequilibrium plasma. New understanding of this old phenomenon…
We investigate negative and positive streamers in C4F7N-CO2 mixtures through simulations. These mixtures are considered to be more environmentally friendly than the insulating gas SF6 that is widely used in high voltage technology.…
Positive streamer discharges have been studied and modelled extensively in air. Here we study positive streamers in CO$_2$ with and without oxygen admixtures; they are relevant for current high voltage technology as well as for discharges…
We present the first analytical and numerical studies of the initial stage of the branching process based on an interface dynamics streamer model in the fully 3-D case. This model follows from fundamental considerations on charge production…
Streamers, thin, ionized plasma channels, form the early stages of lightning discharges. Here we approach the study of extraterrestrial lightning by studying the formation and propagation of streamer discharges in various nitrogen-methane…
Positive streamers are thought to propagate by photo-ionization whose parameters depend on the nitrogen:oxygen ratio. Therefore we study streamers in nitrogen with 20%, 0.2% and 0.01% oxygen and in pure nitrogen, as well as in pure oxygen…
We present an analytical theory for impact ionization fronts in reversely biased p^{+}-n-n^{+} structures. The front propagates into a depleted n base with a velocity that exceeds the saturated drift velocity. The front passage generates a…
Positive and negative streamers are studied in ambient air at 1 bar; they emerge from a needle electrode placed 40 mm above a planar electrode. The amplitudes of the applied voltage pulses range from 5 to 96 kV; most pulses have rise times…
Streamer discharges can be used as a primary source of reactive species for plasma-assisted combustion. In this research we investigate positive streamers in a stoichiometric air-methane mixture at 1 bar and 300 K with a three-dimensional…