Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 3, 2026

How to Ignite an Atmospheric Pressure Microwave Plasma Torch without Any Additional Igniters
Published on: April 16, 2015
Internally driven spatiotemporal irregularity in a dc glow discharge
1Institut fur Physik, Ernst-Moritz-Arndt-Universitat Greifswald, Domstrasse 10a, 17 487 Greifswald, Germany.
Abstract:
Spatiotemporal dynamics of an undriven dc glow discharge at intermediate pressures (p(0)r(0)=6.2 Torr cm, i<50 mA) is investigated experimentally. Spatiotemporal irregularity and windows of regular nonlinear waves occur and are found to depend on the discharge current. Above a threshold current column head oscillations arise and inject high-frequency ionization waves into the positive column that decay towards the anode through nonlinear wave coupling with a discrete eigenmode of the positive column. Regularity was found to be a result of commensuration of both waves and obeys a devil's staircase. Since column head oscillations occur in the transition region from cathode fall to positive column as result of discharge formation, the irregularities were internally driven. Spatiotemporal analysis by means of biorthogonal decomposition gives insights into the mechanism of irregularity and can be employed for characterization of spatiotemporal complexity.
Related Concept Videos
Continuous Charge Distributions
The electric charge can also be subjected to an analogical...
Induced Electric Dipoles
Since the absolute value of potential energy holds no physical meaning, its zero value can be chosen as per...
Oscillations In An LC Circuit
Electrostatic Boundary Conditions in Dielectrics
Consider a case where both the mediums across a boundary are two different dielectric materials. Recall that the electric field and electric displacement are proportional and related through the material's permittivity.
First-Order Circuits
One common example of a first-order circuit is the RC (resistor-capacitor) circuit. These circuits are used in relaxation oscillators such as neon lamp oscillator circuits. When voltage is...
Design Example: Automobile Ignition System
One can generate a large voltage using a car battery of 12 volts with the help of inductors. Inductors are known for opposing rapid...

