Mathematical modeling of the barrier discharge point-plane geometry in nitrogen

Abstract

Two-dimensional model of the barrier discharge nitrogen for point-plane geometry was made up  on the basis of the equation of continuity and the Poisson equation for the electric field. The system of differential equations with boundary and initial conditions were solved by iteratively method UMFPACK in the programming environment COMSOL Multiphysics 3.5. There were determined the results of calculation of electric and kinetic characteristics: potential and electric field, and the electron temperature and density. For the proposed conditions it was showed that the discharge characteristics determined by the distribution of the alternating electric field, which is great most of the period from the bare metal electrode, due to its curvature. Another characteristic of the discharge is the formation of a positive space charge on the dielectric surface, the magnitude of which varies during the period. The proposed model can be used for numerical simulation of the discharge cells used in electrocardiography.