Discharge modes of self-pulsing discharges in argon at atmospheric pressure - dataset

The results of modelling study of self-pulsing discharges in pure argon at atmospheric pressure in a 1.5 mm gas gap are provided in this dataset. The study investigates the interaction between the electrical circuit and the actual plasma characteristics. A time-dependent, spatially one-dimensional fluid-Poisson model coupled with an equivalent circuit equation is applied to analyse the impact of circuit parameters like resistance and applied negative DC high voltage on basic discharge properties. This includes the analysis of the spatio-temporal development of the densities of charge carriers and excited species, the electric field and ionisation rates in combination with the synchronised electrical quantities like discharge current, discharge voltage and self-pulsing frequency. The study identifies three distinct self-pulsing modes of the discharge, i.e., a transient spark, a transient glow and a modulated DC glow mode. The transition between these modes is related to different recharging times of the circuit capacitance for different external resistances in series with the gas gap, which leads to changes in the predominance of the different ionisation processes together with the crucial impact of pre-ionisation on the discharge inception. These insights provide essential knowledge on tunability within a selection of self-pulsing DC discharge modes for generating non-thermal plasma with desired effects, e.g. for material processing and environmental or medical applications.