Collective vibration of discharge current filaments in a self-organized pattern within a dielectric barrier discharge

We report on the collective vibration of discharge current filaments in a self-organized superlattice pattern within an air-argon dielectric barrier discharge system. The period of collective vibration decreases as the air content increases. An antisymmetric normal vibration mode of discharge current filaments is observed. The measurements of the spatiotemporal behavior of the superlattice pattern show that the discharge of the vibrating dot (filament) is asynchronous with that of its eight neighboring dots, including four big dots and four small dots. The forces exerted on the vibrating dot are analyzed, and a motion equation is set up in each half cycle of the applied voltage. It is found that the motion of the small dot is not an ideal vibration but is a vibration with fluctuating amplitude, which is in good agreement with experiments.