Modeling of and Driver Design For A Dielectric

Modeling of and Driver Design for a Dielectric
Barrier Discharge Lamp
by
Amgad Amin El-Deib
A thesis submitted in conformity with the requirements

for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy
Graduate Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
University of Toronto
Copyright
c 2010 by Amgad Amin El-Deib
Abstract
Modeling of and Driver Design for a Dielectric

Barrier Discharge Lamp
Amgad Amin El-Deib
Doctor of Philosophy
Graduate Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
University of Toronto
2010
Dielectric Barrier Discharge (DBD) excimer lamp is a very attractive source for Ultravio-
let (UV) radiation. It has a number of advantages compared to the mercury lamp which
is the main lamp used in the industry for UV production. Some of these advantages are
instant UV radiation (no warm-up period), narrow UV spectrum, longer life times and
simple construction. The DBD UV lamp can be used in number of applications like water
disinfection, Plasma Display Panels (PDP) and surface treatment in the semiconductor
industry. Yet, the full industrial application of this lamp still faces some problems mainly
related to finding the optimum electrical driver to maximize the efficiency of such a lamp.
This includes the type of the electrical waveform to generate and the power electronic
driver to produce it.
In this thesis, firstly a physically based circuit model for the DBD lamp using the
Finite Volume Method(FVM) is developed. This model provides the electrical and optical
characteristics of the lamp. Using this model the sensitivity of the lamp efficiency to the
proposed electrical waveform has been determined. Secondly, the order of this FVM
model has been reduced to obtain a model which is used in the design procedure of the
proposed driver.
Since the DBD lamp has a capacitive nature, a current controlled driver is proposed
in this thesis as opposed to most of the published drivers which are voltage controlled
drivers. The design of this driver is intended to enhance the electrical to optical efficiency
ii
of the lamp and therefore enhancing the overall efficiency of the system. The driver
topology permits direct control of the peak lamp current and the operating frequency of
the supplied current to the DBD lamp. The width of the current pulses is determined
by the transformer magnetizing inductance and the lamp capacitance.
Experimental results of the proposed driver connected to a XeCl DBD lamp are
presented to validate the performance of the driver and to prove the concept of such
a current controlled driver. The proposed driver performance is compared to a voltage

source driver which was also implemented. The proposed driver produced higher overall
system efficiency but at the expense of a reduction in the driver efficiency as compared
to the voltage source driver.
The complete system, which consists of the developed FVM based model and the
equivalent circuit of the proposed driver, was simulated and the results were compared
to the experimental results to validate the accuracy of the developed model for the DBD
lamp.
iii
Dedication
To my dear parents
and
To my lovely wife Dina, my sweet daughter Laila and my baby boy
iv
Acknowledgements
I would like to express my sincere gratitude to my supervisors, Professor Francis Daw-
son and Professor Douglas Lavers, for their invaluable supervision, encouragement, and
financial support throughout my Ph.D. studies.
I should acknowledge the great help of Dr. Sounil Bhosle and Prof. Georges Zissis from
Universite Paul Sabatier in Toulouse France, Gerhard Van Eerden and Martin Krom-
mendijk from Nedap Light controls and Ognjen Paleka, Alin Cojocaru, Dr. Mike Sasges,
Dr. Gord Knight and Dr. Linda Gowman from TrojanUV.
Furthermore, I should acknowledge great efforts of the entire Ph.D. exam committee:
Professor Mary Pugh, Professor Harry Ruda and Professor Wai Ng for their review of
this thesis, discussions, and constructive comments.
I would also like to recognize the financial support of the University of Toronto.
I cannot thank my lovely family enough for their constant encouragement, support, and
love. Without their intense care and compassionate support, I would have never been
able to come this far.
v
Contents
List of Figures xvi
List of Tables xvii
1 Introduction 1
1.1 Background . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
1.2 Physics of DBD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
1.3 Modeling of DBD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
1.4 Plasma Model based on Moments of Boltzmann Equation . . . . . . . . . 10
1.4.1 Transport and rate coefficients . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
1.4.2 Boundary conditions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
1.4.3 Surface charge calculation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
1.5 Problem Statement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
1.6 Thesis Objectives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
1.7 Thesis Outline . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
2 Reduced Order Circuit Model of the DBD Lamp 22

2.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
2.2 Literature Survey on Circuit Models of DBD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
2.2.1 Passive Elements based Models . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
2.2.2 Voltage Dependent Current Source based Models . . . . . . . . . 25
2.3 Discretization of the PDE model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
2.4 Decoupling of the PDE system . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
2.4.1 Electrical Subsystem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
2.4.2 Optical Subsystem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
2.5 Model Derivation using Finite Volume Method . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
vi
2.5.1 Continuity Equations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
2.5.2 Poisson’s Equation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
2.6 Electrical Model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
2.6.1 Equivalent circuit of the continuity equation . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
2.6.2 Equivalent circuit of Poisson’s equation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
2.7 Optical Model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
2.8 Normalized DBD Model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
2.9 Simulation Results . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
2.9.1 Pulsed current waveform . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
2.9.2 Sinusoidal current waveform . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
2.10 Effect of number of volumes on the solution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
2.11 Model Order Reduction Techniques . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
2.11.1 Classification of different techniques . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
2.11.2 Singular Value Decomposition based Techniques . . . . . . . . . . 60
2.11.3 POD Technique . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
2.11.4 Empirical Grammians . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
2.11.5 Results of the model reduction using POD . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
2.12 Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
3 Effect of Electrical Waveform on DBD Performance 66

3.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
3.2 Electrical Excitation Waveforms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
3.2.1 Sinusoidal versus Pulsed Excitation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
3.2.2 Voltage versus Current Sources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
3.3 Pulsed Excitation Types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
3.4 Pulsed Excitation Waveform Parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78
3.4.1 Rate of Rise of Applied Voltage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
3.4.2 Current Pulse Width . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80
3.4.3 Applied Voltage Pulse Width . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
3.4.4 Dead Time of Applied Voltage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84
3.5 Effect of External Electrical Circuit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84
3.6 Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
vii
4 Current Controlled Driver for DBD lamp 88
4.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88
4.2 Review of existing DBD drivers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
4.2.1 Sinusoidal Waveform Drivers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
4.2.2 Pulsed Waveform Drivers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90
4.2.3 Hard switched converters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90
4.2.4 Soft switched converters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94
4.3 Proposed DBD Driver . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95
4.3.1 Concept of the Driver . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95
4.3.2 Circuit Operation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97
4.4 Design Procedure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107
4.5 Energy Recovery Converter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115
4.5.1 Nonlinear State Space Model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115
4.5.2 Linearized State Space Model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121
4.6 Simulation Results . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125
4.7 Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133
5 Experimental Results 136

5.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136
5.2 Experimental Setup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136
5.3 Results and Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 142
5.3.1 Effect of on-time ton . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145
5.3.2 Recovery voltage effect . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149
5.3.3 Operating frequency effect . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151
5.3.4 Effect of second voltage level Vdc2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151
5.4 Comparison with a voltage controlled driver . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155
5.5 FVM Model Verification . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 160
5.6 Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163
6 Conclusions 165
6.1 Thesis Contributions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 168
6.2 Suggested Future Work . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169
A Fundamentals of DBD Operation 171

A.1 Mechanism of Electrical Discharge in gases . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171
viii
A.2 Excimer Formation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 174
B Moments of Boltzmann Equation 178

B.1 Boltzmann Equation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 178
B.2 Derivation of the Moments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 179
B.3 Calculation of the transport and rate coefficients . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 181
B.4 Modifications to the plasma model proposed in the literature . . . . . . . 181
C DBD Circuit Model Details 183

C.1 Passive Elements Modeling Approach . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 183
C.1.1 Models based on variable conductances . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 183
C.1.2 Models based on Zener diodes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 186
C.2 Dependent Current Sources Modeling Approach . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 188
D Transformer Design 191
E Eliminating Parasitic Oscillations using Special Switching Scheme 196

E.1 Analysis of the general circuit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 198
E.2 Analysis of the different intervals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 199
E.3 Simulation Results . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 201
E.4 Experimental Results . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 202
F UV output measurement and calculation 207
References 209
ix
List of Figures
1.1 DNA absorption spectrum . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

1.2 DBD reactor configuration: Metallic electrodes are shown in solid black,
the dielectric barriers are represented by the grid zones while the discharge
gap are represented by the line zones . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
1.3 DBD reactor geometry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
1.4 Transport coefficients obtained from Boltzmann’s equation . . . . . . . . 14
1.5 Direct ionization coefficient . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
2.1 System Decoupling Block Diagram . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

2.2 DBD current waveform proposed in this work . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
2.3 Comparison between the coupled and decoupled systems: DBD voltage
obtained from Comsol . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
2.4 Comparison between the coupled and decoupled systems: Evolution of the
input energy per cycle obtained from Comsol. At some cycles only dots
appear because the energy per cycle from both systems coincide . . . . . 31
2.5 Comparison between the coupled and decoupled systems: Evolution of the
output energy per cycle obtained from Comsol. At some cycles only dots
appear because the energy per cycle from both systems coincide . . . . . 32
2.6 DBD reactor 1-D equivalent geometry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
2.7 Xenon Kinetic Model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
2.8 Geometry of the 1-D control volume used in the FVM model derivation . 37
2.9 Distribution of net volume charge in plasma . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
2.10 Continuity Equation Equivalent circuit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
2.11 An example for the continuity equation equivalent circuit using 4 volumes 44
2.12 Equivalent Circuit of Poisson’s equation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
x
2.13 Comparison of the obtained DBD voltage from Comsol and FVM using a
pulsed waveform . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
2.14 Comparison of the obtained input energy per cycle from Comsol and FVM
using a pulsed waveform (At some cycles only dots appear because the
energy per cycle from both systems coincide) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
2.15 Comparison of the obtained output energy per cycle from Comsol and
FVM using a pulsed waveform (At some cycles only dots appear because
the energy per cycle from both systems coincide) . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
2.16 Comparison of the obtained DBD voltage from Comsol and FVM using a
sinusoidal waveform . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
2.17 Comparison of the obtained input energy per cycle from Comsol and FVM
using a sinusoidal waveform (At some cycles only dots appear because the
energy per cycle from both systems coincide) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
2.18 Comparison of the obtained output energy per cycle from Comsol and
FVM using a sinusoidal waveform (At some cycles only dots appear be-
cause the energy per cycle from both systems coincide) . . . . . . . . . . 53
2.19 Effect of number of volumes on the input energy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
2.20 Diffusive flux of both electrons and ions at the cathode obtained from
Comsol solution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
2.21 Comparison of the electron density distribution obtained using 300 vol-
umes (shown in dashed red) and using only 8 volumes (shown in solid
black) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
2.22 Zoomed view of figure 2.19 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
2.23 Case 1:Voltage waveform using 6 and 8 volumes compared to the waveform
obtained using 300 volumes under Ipk = 3.6A and P Wc = 1μs . . . . . . 57
obtained using 300 volumes under Ipk = 3.6A and P Wc = 3μs . . . . . . 57
obtained using 300 volumes under Ipk = 5A and P Wc = 1μs . . . . . . . 58
2.26 Comparison between FVM and POD case 1: 400 variables based FVM
solution is reduced to a 200 variable solution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
2.27 Comparison between FVM and POD case 2: 800 variables based FVM
solution is reduced to a 400 variable solution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
xi
3.1 Temporal evolution of UV pulse at different pressures [47] . . . . . . . . 68
3.2 The lamp voltage VDBD , plasma voltage Vplasma and lamp current density
JDBD under sinusoidal excitation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
3.3 The lamp voltage VDBD , plasma voltage Vplasma and lamp current density
JDBD under pulsed excitation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
3.4 Comparison between the input energy per cycle under pulsed excitation
(solid dots) and under sinusoidal excitation(hollow dots) at different pres-
sures [48] . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
3.5 Comparison between the lamp efficiency under pulsed excitation (solid
dots) and under sinusoidal excitation(hollow dots) at different pressures [48] 74
3.6 Plasma voltage and current under pulsed excitation . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
3.7 Optical output under pulsed excitation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
3.8 Quasi sinusoidal pulse excitation [50] . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
3.9 DBD current waveform proposed in this work . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
3.10 Effect of peak current on input energy per cycle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80
3.11 Effect of peak current on lamp efficiency . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
3.12 Effect of current pulse width on input energy per cycle . . . . . . . . . . 81
3.13 Effect of current pulse width on lamp efficiency . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
3.14 Effect of voltage pulse width on input energy per cycle . . . . . . . . . . 83
3.15 Effect of voltage pulse width on lamp efficiency . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
3.16 Effect of dead time on input energy per cycle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84
3.17 Effect of dead time on lamp efficiency . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
3.18 DBD voltage under different values for the external parasitic inductances 86
3.19 Effect of external parasitic inductance on lamp efficiency . . . . . . . . . 86
4.1 Different Waveforms produced by full bridge converter:(a) Dead time volt-
age waveform, (b) Three level voltage waveform [60] . . . . . . . . . . . . 91
4.2 Two level voltage waveform produced by full bridge converter [60] . . . . 91
4.3 DBD proposed drivers: (a)Full bridge converter from [60] (b)Half bridge
converter from [59] (c)Flyback converter from [60] (d)Push-Pull converter
from [67] (e)Third winding flyback converter from [29] (f)Half bridge con-
verter with no transformer from [69] . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92
4.4 DBD Driver Circuit Diagram . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96
4.5 Switching Scheme of the proposed driver . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98
xii
4.6 Equivalent Circuit of Interval 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99
4.15 Ideal waveforms obtained for the transformers’ currents and the lamp volt-
age as calculated from the operating intervals’ equations for intervals 1-5 108
4.16 Ideal waveforms obtained for the transformers’ currents and the lamp volt-
age as calculated from the operating intervals’ equations for intervals 6-9 108
4.17 Plasma resistance effect on peak DBD voltage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110
4.18 Transformer coupling coefficient effect on DBD voltage rate of rise . . . . 111
4.19 Plasma resistance effect on current pulse width . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112
4.20 Effect of Vrec on the oscillation period . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113
4.21 Proposed Driver Design Flowchart . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114
4.22 Energy Recovery Converter circuit diagram . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116
4.23 Equivalent Circuit of ERC during interval 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117
4.27 Relation between D1 and Vc . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122
4.28 Effect of D1 on the dependent duty ratios (a) and the primary and sec-
ondary current(b) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122
4.29 Capacitor voltage vc response to a step change in ig . . . . . . . . . . . . 124
4.30 Capacitor voltage vc response to a step change in d1 . . . . . . . . . . . . 124
4.31 Geometry of the DBD lamp used in the experiment . . . . . . . . . . . . 125
4.32 DBD Voltage obtained for the proposed driver using MATLAB . . . . . . 127
4.33 DBD Current obtained for the proposed driver using MATLAB . . . . . 128
4.34 Inductor Currents obtained for the proposed driver using MATLAB . . . 128
4.35 Plasma Voltage obtained for the proposed driver using MATLAB . . . . 129
4.36 Total Electron Density obtained for the proposed driver using MATLAB 129
xiii
4.37 DBD voltage for different recovery voltages obtained using MATLAB . . 131
4.38 DBD current for different recovery voltages obtained using MATLAB . . 131
4.39 Transformer currents for different recovery voltages obtained using MATLAB132
4.40 DBD Voltage and Current from SIMETRIX . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133
4.41 Transformer Currents from SIMETRIX . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134
5.1 Circuit diagram of the proposed DBD driver . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139

5.2 Implementation of the voltage sources Vdc2 and Vrec . . . . . . . . . . . . 139
5.3 Experimental Prototype . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140
5.4 Lamp setup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141
5.5 Experimental waveforms of the DBD lamp: DBD voltage VDBD , DBD
current iDBD and DBD optical output Poptical . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141
5.6 Picture of the ignited DBD lamp . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 142
5.7 Experimental waveforms of the transformers: T1 primary voltage (top
waveform) (0.5kV /div), T2 primary voltage (2nd from top waveform) (0.5kV /div),
T1 primary current (3rd from top waveform) (50A/div) and T2 primary
current (bottom waveform) (50A/div) with (1μs/div) . . . . . . . . . . . 143
5.8 Block diagram of the DBD lamp-driver system . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143
5.9 Effect of ton on the lamp input electrical power . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146
5.10 Effect of ton on the lamp and driver efficiencies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147
5.11 Effect of ton on DBD voltage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148
5.12 Effect of ton on RR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148
5.13 Effect of Vrec on the lamp input power . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149
5.14 Effect of Vrec on the lamp and driver efficiencies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 150
5.15 Effect of Vrec on DBD voltage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 150
5.16 Effect of Fs on the lamp input power . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151
5.17 Effect of Fs on the lamp and driver efficiencies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 152
5.18 Effect of Vdc2 on DBD voltage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153
5.19 Effect of Vdc2 on DBD current . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153
5.20 Experimental waveforms of the transformers when Vdc2 = 0: T1 pri-
mary voltage (top waveform) (0.5kV /div), T2 primary voltage (2nd from
top waveform) (0.5kV /div), T1 primary current (3rd from top waveform)
(50A/div) and T2 primary current (bottom waveform) (50A/div) with
(2μs/div) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 154
xiv
5.21 Experimental waveforms of the transformers when Vdc2 = 109V : T1 pri-
mary voltage (top waveform) (0.5kV /div), T2 primary voltage (2nd from
top waveform) (0.5kV /div), T1 primary current (3rd from top waveform)
(50A/div) and T2 primary current (bottom waveform) (50A/div) with
(2μs/div) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 154
5.22 Full bridge Driver topology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155
5.23 Lamp input electrical power: comparison between the proposed driver
(solid line) and the full bridge driver (dashed line) . . . . . . . . . . . . . 156
5.24 Driver Efficiency: comparison between the proposed driver (solid line) and
the full bridge driver (dashed line) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157
5.25 System efficiency: comparison between the proposed driver (solid line) and
the full bridge driver (dashed line) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 158
5.26 Experimental DBD voltage: comparison between the proposed driver (solid
line) and the full bridge driver (dashed line) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159
5.27 Experimental DBD current: comparison between the proposed driver (solid
line) and the full bridge driver (dashed line) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159
5.28 Total Electron Density: 400 volumes (solid line) and 16 volumes (dashed
line) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161
5.29 Verification of the FVM model-DBD voltage: Experimental voltage vs
FVM using 400 volumes and 16 volumes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 162
5.30 Verification of the FVM model-DBD voltage zoomed view: Experimental
voltage vs FVM using 400 volumes and 16 volumes . . . . . . . . . . . . 162
5.31 Verification of the FVM model-DBD current: Experimental current vs
FVM using 400 volumes and 16 volumes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163
A.1 Different DBD configurations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 172

A.2 Streamer Formation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173
A.3 Reaction Processes in Xe discharge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 176
C.1 Proposed DBD circuit model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 184

C.2 Modified DBD model of figure C.1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 186
C.3 Zener diode DBD model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 187
C.4 Multiple filaments model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 188
C.5 Current source modeling the plasma . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 189
C.6 Proposed DBD circuit model using voltage controlled current source . . . 189
xv
E.1 Two Switch Flyback Converter: (a) Circuit topology, (b) General equiva-
lent circuit during charging . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 197
E.2 Timing diagram for two switch flyback converter in the case S2 is turned off197
E.3 Laplace equivalent circuit of the general circuit of figure E.1(b) . . . . . . 198
E.4 Two Switch Flyback Converter during interval 1: (a) Circuit topology, (b)
Equivalent circuit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 199
E.5 Two Switch Flyback Converter during interval 2: (a) Circuit topology, (b)
Equivalent circuit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 200
E.6 Switch current with no special switching scheme . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 202
E.7 Secondary voltage with no special switching scheme . . . . . . . . . . . . 203
E.8 Switch current with special switching scheme . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 203
E.9 Secondary voltage with special switching scheme . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 204
E.10 No special switching scheme:T1 primary voltage (top waveform) (0.2kV /div),
Gating signal (2nd from top waveform) (0.5kV /div), T1 primary current
(3rd from top waveform) (10A/div) and T2 primary current (bottom wave-
form) (20A/div) with (500ns/div) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 205
E.11 Special switching scheme:T1 primary voltage (top waveform) (0.2kV /div),
Gating signal (2nd from top waveform) (0.5kV /div), T1 primary current
(3rd from top waveform) (10A/div) and T2 primary current (bottom wave-
form) (20A/div) with (500ns/div) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 206
F.1 Location of the UV detector used for UV density measurement . . . . . . 207

F.2 Spectral responsivity of the UV detector . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 208
F.3 Optical detector and UV detector locations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 209
xvi
List of Tables
1.1 Wavelengths produced by different gases . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

1.2 Reaction processes for Xenon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
2.1 Excimer Particles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36

2.2 Pulsed Current Waveform Parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
2.3 MOR Techniques . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
4.1 Operating conditions for testing the small signal model of the ERC . . . 121
4.2 Design parameters for the proposed DBD driver . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126
4.3 Design variables for the proposed DBD driver . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126
4.4 Measured design parameters for the proposed DBD driver . . . . . . . . 130
5.1 Parameters of the designed Transformer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138

5.2 Effect of Vdc2 on the driver performance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155
E.1 Operating conditions for testing the proposed switching scheme . . . . . 201
E.2 Comparison between the results of the two switching schemes . . . . . . 204
xvii
Nomenclature
Acronyms
UV: Ultraviolet
DNA: Deoxyribonucleic Acid
LTE: Local Thermal Equilibrium
DBD: Dielectric Barrier Discharge
PDE: Partial Differential Equation
ODE: Ordinary Differential Equation
PIC: Particle In Cell
FDM: Finite Difference Method
FVM: Finite Volume Method
FEM: Finite Element Method
KCL: Kirchoff’s Current Law
KVL: Kirchoff’s Voltage Law
SVD: Singular Value Decomposition
POD: Proper Orthogonal Decomposition
MOSFET: Metal Oxide Semiconductor Field Effect Transistor
IGBT: Insulated Gate Bipolar Transistor
CCM: Continuous conduction mode
DCM: Discontinuous conduction mode
ZVS: Zero Voltage Switching
ZCS: Zero Current Switching
SSA: State Space Averaging
xviii
Symbols
t: Time(s)
x: Dimension in the x-direction (m)
s: Laplace transform variable
E: Electric field(V /m)
H: Magnetic Field (A/m)
Jc : Conduction current density (Am−2 )
: Permittivity (F/m)
σ: Conductivity (Ω−1 m−1 )
μi : Particle i mobility
λ: Wavelength (m)
ν: Frequency of electromagnetic wave (Hz)
ρv : Space charge volume density (Cm−3 )
ρs : Surface charge density (Cm−2 )
ω: velocity (m/s)
Γi : Particle i flux (m−2 s−1 )
α: Ionization coefficient
β: Recombination coefficient
γ: Secondary ionization coefficient
q: Elementary charge (1.6 × 10−19 C)
h: Planck’s constant (6.626068 × 10−34 Js)
c: Speed of light
L: Gap width (m)
di+1 : Distance between points xi and xi+1 in the FVM mesh
hi : Thickness of volume i
m: Charged particle volume density(m−3 )
z: Neutral excited particle volume density(m−3 )
Di : Particle i diffusion coefficient
n: Electron volume density (m−3 )
p: Ion volume density (m−3 )
p2 : Molecular ion volume density (m−3 )
xix
ns : Negative charge surface density (m−2 )
ps : Positive charge surface density (m−2 )
Si : Particle i source term (m−3 s−1 )
i: Current (A)
iconv : Convection current (A)
idif f : Diffusion current (A)
V: Absolute Voltage (V )
v: Voltage difference (V )
Win : Input Energy per cycle J
Wout : Output Energy per cycle J
C: Capacitance (F )
L: Inductance (H)
R: Resistance (Ω)
G: Conductance (Ω−1 )
A: Cross section area (m2 )
V ol: Volume (m3 )
Vb : Base voltage (V )
Ib : Base current (A)
Nb : Base particle volume density m−3
n: Turn’s ratio of transformer
Fs : Switching Frequency
xx
Chapter 1
Introduction
1.1 Background
Ultraviolet (UV) radiation is used in many applications that cover a wide range of indus-
tries. Examples of UV radiation applications include ozone production, water treatment,
plasma display panels, general lighting and surface modification. In these applications,
the UV photons are needed to excite certain radiative transitions in molecules. The ex-
cited molecules are used either to initiate specific chemical reactions or to emit photons
at longer wavelengths. Each of these applications has its own requirements. The optimal
UV spectrum for each application will differ and also the area to be irradiated is differ-
ent based on the application. As an example, a brief description of a water treatment
application is given in the next paragraphs.
Water treatment is a crucial process for the general health of the population in any
country. One of its purposes is to neutralize microorganisms that might cause diseases.
Chlorine has been usually used to chemically disinfect water but it was found that some
of the reaction products between organic species and chlorine, such as trihalomethanes
and haloacetic acids, are known or suspected carcinogens. Therefore, disinfection using
UV radiation has gained a lot of interest as it is a safer way of treating water compared
to chlorination. Disinfection using UV photons inactivates microorganisms based on the
amount of energy absorbed by the microorganism. While absorption of high amount of
UV energy can kill the microorganism completely, absorption of less energy will damage
the Deoxyribonucleic Acid (DNA) of the microorganism beyond repair. This damage will
prevent the replication of the microorganism and hence prevent infection.
There is a specific range of wavelengths in which the UV radiation is effective in neu-
1
Chapter 1. Introduction 2
tralizing the microorganisms. This range is related to the DNA absorption spectrum of
the microorganism. Figure 1.1 shows the spectrum at which DNA absorbs the UV radia-
tion. The specific portion of the UV spectrum between 240 − 320nm has a strong killing
effect, with the maximum disinfection efficiency occurring at λ ≈ 265nm. Therefore, it is
essential to choose a UV source that can produce as much of its optical output in this spe-
cific range of wavelengths to enhance the overall efficiency of the process. However, there
are other constraints that would force the use of sources of other nearby wavelengths.
These constraints might be: cost, electrical to UV efficiency, ease of construction and
some other environmental constraints [1] , [2] , [3] and [4].
100
80
Relative Units
60 DNA Absorption
40
20
Ȝ(nm)
240 260 280 300 320
Figure 1.1: DNA absorption spectrum
There are different sources for UV radiation. These sources differ strongly in their
characteristics, like their optical spectra, or their power densities, and therefore each
radiation source is suited to a particular application. The first of these sources is the
excimer laser, where a rare gas or a rare gas halide is used as the active medium of the
laser system. Xenon or Krypton are used as rare gases while fluorine, chlorine or iodine
are used in combination with these rare gases to form rare gas halides.
The excimer laser system contains an active medium, pumping source and reflecting
mirrors. Excimer lasers produce nearly coherent UV radiation such that the radiation
is highly intense in a very narrow bandwidth of wavelengths. The produced wavelength
depends on the gas composition. Excimer lasers might be very beneficial in some appli-
cations where only small area beams (typically only several cm2 ) are required. However,
the excimer laser is a complex system which is expensive in capital outlay and operating
cost. Therefore, it might not be very suitable in applications where large areas must
be irradiated in an acceptable time period like in water treatment or surface cleaning
applications.
The second source is based on high-current arc discharges in mercury and rare gas mix-
tures. Low pressure mercury lamps produce nearly a monochromatic spectrum at 254nm
while medium pressure lamps emit a broad spectra ranging from 180nm to 600nm. The
low pressure mercury lamp has the advantage of the monochromatic spectrum but its
output power is limited. On the other hand, the broad spectrum produced by medium
pressure lamps is not useful because the disinfection process depends mainly on a specific
range of wavelengths. Therefore, the efficiency of the medium pressure lamps in terms
of disinfecting water is lower than the low pressure mercury lamp. Two additional draw-
backs of the mercury based lamps are the temperature dependence of the output radiation
spectrum and the environmental concern related to the disposal of mercury based prod-
ucts. Nevertheless, mercury lamps are the main lamps used in water treatment plants
because they are a mature technology with low maintenance cost and relatively simple
construction.
The third UV source is based on excimer lamps. This incoherent light source might
be considered as a compromise between the two aforementioned sources. The excimer
lamp is capable of producing UV radiation with high power, low cost and in a relatively
narrow wavelength band (typically 1 − 8nm) over large areas. The output of this lamp
does not depend on temperature as mercury lamps and it does not need a warm-up period
meaning that the ignition of the lamp is instant. Therefore this source might be suitable
for some applications like surface cleaning, ozone production and water treatment where
large areas need to be irradiated and photo-chemical rather than photo-thermal reactions
are required [5].
An excimer (word originates from excited dimer) molecule is an excited state of a
molecule that, under normal physical conditions, does not possess a stable ground elec-
tronic state and once formed, decomposes within a few nanoseconds giving up its ex-
citation energy in the form of UV photons. Excimer molecules emit radiation in the
100 − 400nm wavelength range. As in excimer lasers, the gas fill for excimer lamps con-
sists of a rare gas or rare gas halide. Depending on the gas used, the wavelength of the
output UV can be selected. Table 1.1 shows the wavelength obtained for the different
gas mixtures.
The process of excimer formation starts by exciting the neutral atoms of the gas by
Table 1.1: Wavelengths produced by different gases
Rare gas He Ne Ar Kr Xe
Halogen
74nm 83nm 126nm 146nm 172nm
F 157nm 108nm 193nm 248nm 354nm
Cl 259nm 175nm 222nm 308nm
Br 289nm 165nm 207nm 282nm
I 342nm 190nm 253nm
electron collisions. Within nanoseconds these excited atoms relax to produce excimer
molecules. The density of the produced excimers depends on the operating pressure of
the lamp. The process of excimer production is a three body collision process, therefore
as the pressure increases the number of excimers produced will increase. The radiation
life time of these excimer molecules is in the range of 100ns [6]. Therefore, the frequency
of the excitation source must be high since the whole radiation process is finished in
sub-microseconds. Refer to Appendix A for more details.
The production of excimer molecules is possible by initiating electrical discharges in
rare gases. The discharge will offer the required electrons to start the process of exciting
neutral gas atoms. The plasma produced in this discharge should remain in a non Local
Thermal Equilibrium (LTE) state since all of the energy stored in the electrical field
should be imparted to the electrons given that they are the main species affecting the
production rate of the excimers. Since the energy is only deposited in the electrons,
the heavy particles remain nearly at room temperature under non LTE conditions. A
suitable type of electrical discharge to produce a non LTE plasma is the Dielectric Barrier
Discharge (DBD).
1.2 Physics of DBD

The concept of DBD has been known since 1857 when Werner von Siemens reported
his first experimental investigations [7]. The main feature of this electrical discharge
mechanism is that at least one metallic electrode does not make direct contact with the
ionized gas (plasma). Instead, one or two dielectric slabs isolates the plasma from the
electrode(s). This is the reason for the name DBD. Another main feature of the DBD is
its operation over a wide range of pressures; from as low as 0.1bars to as high as 10bars.
DBD excimer lamps offer a powerful source of UV radiation with a simple configu-
ration. They also produce a spectrum with a narrow bandwidth which is required in
some applications as described before. The non LTE operating condition ensures that
the temperature of the lamp remains nearly at the ambient temperature. Moreover,
long lifetimes can be obtained since the metallic electrodes are not in contact with the
plasma [5]. All of these advantages make the DBD excimer lamps a very attractive choice
for a number of industrial applications.
The first and most widely used application of the DBD was for ozone production by
dissociation of oxygen in air. Recently many more applications based on the DBD have
been suggested. These include surface modification, plasma chemical vapor deposition
used in the semiconductor industry, CO2 laser excitation, large-area flat plasma display
panels and ultraviolet (UV) radiation generation [8].
Figure 1.2 shows the simple configuration of a DBD reactor. In the case of ozone
production, the configuration (a) is used where a gas flows in the reactor and the different
species are produced. Configuration (b) consists of a perforated outer electrode and
a transparent dielectric material. This configuration is the one usually used for UV
radiation production [9].
a) Planar b) Cylindrical
Figure 1.2: DBD reactor configuration: Metallic electrodes are shown in solid black,
the dielectric barriers are represented by the grid zones while the discharge gap are
represented by the line zones
All of the DBD applications have one thing in common; as the discharge starts in
the gas, different particle species will appear. These different particle species appear
as a result of the chemical reactions occurring due to the interaction between electrons,
positive ions and neutral molecules in the same medium. The interaction between the
particles produces certain particle species like UV photons or ozone molecules.
The discharge process in the DBD cell starts when the applied voltage exceeds the
breakdown voltage of the gas. The breakdown voltage depends on the gas pressure and
the gap length. The initially available seed electrons, from thermal ionization or external
UV photo-ionization, are accelerated due to the applied field. The electrons gain enough
energy to ionize the neutral molecules. As a consequence an electron avalanche starts
which increase the number of free electrons and positive ions in the plasma. The low
mobility of the heavy positive ions ensures that the ions remain nearly stationary while
the electrons have already reached the anode due to the external electric field force. The
positive ion density is high enough near the anode to cause a distortion in the externally
applied electrical field. This causes a transition from the avalanche phase to a streamer
discharge phase. For more details on the avalanche to streamer transition in a DBD the
reader is referred to Appendix A.
During the streamer phase, the field increases in the region between the positive
space charge region and the cathode. This field causes an excessive ionization wave that
is directed toward the cathode. The generated electrons are swept into the streamer
body toward the anode. There is no difference between a DBD and any other discharge
type until this streamer phase. The difference occurs in the subsequent phase, where
the free charges swept by the electric field start to accumulate on the surface of the
dielectric barriers. This charge accumulation causes an internal field which is opposite to
the externally applied field to develop. Consequently the net electric field in the plasma
is reduced. The positive ions and electrons will start to recombine causing the extinction
of the discharge filament [10].
The effect of this internally produced electric field is therefore to suppress the current
flow and to prevent the transition of the plasma to a state of local thermal equilibrium
(LTE), where both electrons and ions reach approximately the same temperature. As a
consequence a plasma that remains in a non LTE state, where the temperature of the
electrons is much higher than the heavy particles [11], is produced. As stated before, the
non LTE condition in the plasma helps to produce highly efficient chemical reactions.
To reignite the discharge, the voltage polarity has to be reversed in order to produce
a field in the same direction as the field produced by the surface charges on the barriers.
This will cause an electron avalanche and a streamer to form again but in the opposite
direction and the whole process repeats itself. This justifies the need for an AC electric
field to excite the DBD cell. If a constant DC field is applied, the discharge will happen
only once shortly after the DC field is applied [7].
Depending on the gas pressure, gap length and the frequency of the applied field,
the discharge in the DBD cell may take on two forms. At low pressures and short gap
lengths, the discharge takes on a diffuse form where the plasma covers the whole volume
of the gas chamber uniformly. As the pressure or the gap length increases, the discharge
takes on a filamentary form. In this form, the discharge actually consists of a number of
micro-discharges. These micro-discharges bridge the gap covering only a small volume
of the gas chamber and they are distributed over the electrode area. The term micro-
discharge comes from the fact that the life time of these discharges is very small; in the
range of nanoseconds due to the self extinguishing effect of the dielectric barriers [8].
For low frequencies, the discharge has a diffuse form but as the frequency increases
the discharge is transformed into a filamentary mode. The location of the filaments
also depends on the frequency. This phenomenon can be explained as follows: During
the discharge, the free charges start to accumulate on the dielectric barriers. When the
external field changes its polarity, the field produced by the accumulated charges is in
the same direction as the external field therefore the breakdown occurs at a lower voltage
than the first discharge. The voltage produced due to the charges accumulated on the
surface is usually called the memory voltage.
As the frequency of the applied field is increased, the voltage due to the accumulated
charges is higher in the channel of the extinguished filament. Furthermore, this channel
has a high density of free charges remaining from the previous discharge. Therefore, it
is more probable for the discharge to reignite in the same position causing the micro-
discharges to always ignite in the same places. The micro-discharges will ignite in random
places under low frequency conditions but as the frequency increases the locations of the
filaments start to be more deterministic.
The plasma of one such micro-discharge can be divided into three main parts. The
first part, which is the main bulk volume of the plasma, is a region with a high density
of both electrons and positive ions that are nearly equal. Therefore this part of the
plasma is almost neutral and the electric field in this region is small and does not change
significantly. Then there are the sheath regions near the barrier surfaces. In these regions,
especially at the cathode, there is a net positive charge density, which is constantly
changing. This net charge produces high electric fields that are changing rapidly. For
more details refer to appendix A.

As stated before, the DBD can operate over a wide range of pressures especially at
high pressures while maintaining the non LTE state. This is very beneficial for generating
the desired reaction kinetics to form the required excimer species. The excimer species
dissociate through a radiative decay generating UV photons [11]. The reader is referred
to Appendix A section A.2 for more details.
The advantage of operating at high pressure and under non LTE conditions is that
the output radiation can be controlled by means of external parameters such as the
supply waveform (shape, amplitude and frequency), the inter-electrode distance, the gas
composition and the partial pressures of the gases used. Therefore, the process can
be optimized for the highest efficiency by controlling the discharge conditions to affect
primarily the electron energy and the electron density [7].
1.3 Modeling of DBD

The DBD lamp operating mechanism has been qualitatively demonstrated in the previ-
ous section. However, a mathematical model of the lamp which accurately predicts its
electrical characteristics and UV output is essential. For example, the process of optimiz-
ing the excitation waveform to maximize the UV efficiency and the design of a suitable
power supply require a sufficiently accurate model of the lamp. Therefore in this section
the different approaches to model the DBD are briefly reviewed.
The focus of this thesis is on a symmetric DBD lamp where each metallic electrode is
covered by a dielectric barrier. Both dielectric barriers are composed of the same material
and have the same dimensions. Therefore, there are three primary regions which have
different characteristics. The first region is the gas filling the volume between the barriers.
The second and third regions are the dielectric barriers. The configuration under study
is shown in figure 1.3.
After the initiation of breakdown in the gap, the gas becomes ionized and is therefore
transformed into a plasma. The main challenge in modeling the DBD lamp is how to
model the plasma with the different particle species appearing during the discharge. The
plasma is defined as an ionized gas where at least one electron has been dissociated
from a significant fraction of molecules. The free charges make the plasma electrically
conductive so that it responds strongly to the electric field. To describe the plasma, the
spatial and temporal evolutions of the different species present in the plasma have to be
Metal electrodes
Dielectric layers
To voltage
to the Power
generator
Supply
Discharge gap
Tomass
to the
Ground
0.008
0.006
0.002
(dimensions in m)
Dielectric Discharge gap Dielectric
x(m)
x=0 x = xB1 x = xB2 x=L
Figure 1.3: DBD reactor geometry
modeled. There are two main approaches used in plasma modeling.

The first approach deals with the different species present in the plasma as particles
which move under the effect of the different forces existing in the plasma. These forces
are mainly the electric and/or magnetic field forces. The dynamics of the particles in
these fields are studied using algorithms like the Particle-In-Cell (PIC) and Monte Carlo
simulation techniques. The fields are either externally applied or internally produced due
to the interaction between the different charged particles. Unfortunately this approach
uses a huge amount of data and equations to simulate the behavior of all particles in the
plasma [12].
In the PIC method, Maxwell’s equations are solved to calculate the forces acting on
the charged particles. The motion of the particles can then be determined based on
the Lorentz equation of motion and the particle’s positions are then updated. However,
the PIC method deals with a collision-less plasma which implies that a change in the
trajectory of the particles due to collisions with other particles is not accounted for [13].
The Monte Carlo simulation method depends on generating random numbers that
determine the probability of a certain process occurrence. Using a combined Monte
Carlo-PIC algorithm, the trajectory of the particles can be traced under the influence of
the electric and magnetic fields and collisions with other particles [14]. In general, these
methods employ the fundamental equations with only a few approximations, allowing
them to retain most of the physics of the process occurring in the plasma. They can
model the full kinetic, nonlinear and relativistic behavior of the plasma.
Despite having some advantages, these methods also have some weaknesses. Perhaps
the most obvious disadvantage is the poor computational efficiency. These methods
require significant memory and processor resources. Therefore, these models are often
used to benchmark more approximate methods or in modeling configurations with low
particle densities [15].
The second approach is a statistical one which depends on finding a distribution func-
tion for each of the species in the plasma. Using this distribution function, all of the
macroscopic properties of the plasma can be found. The distribution functions are found
by solving the appropriate kinetic equation that governs the evolution of these distri-
bution functions. The kinetic equation used in modeling the plasma is the Boltzmann
equation [16].
The second approach, based on the Boltzmann equation, will be used in this thesis to
model the DBD plasma for the following reason; the first approach places large constraints
on computation time and amount of memory required in order to perform simulations
especially when the number of particles starts to increase. In the case of the DBD
operated at high pressures, the number of electrons tends to reach a maximum density
of approximately 1014 cm−3 [8]. Therefore, the high pressure non-equilibrium plasma in
the DBD is more conveniently described using the second approach.
The second approach will still be time-consuming although far less than the first.
From an engineering point of view, what would be more attractive is an approximate
model that describes the main features of the plasma with acceptable accuracy after
verification with respect to exact models while saving computational effort and time.
These models are based on the moments of the Boltzmann equation [17]. Refer to
Appendix B for more details on the moments of the Boltzmann equation.
1.4 Plasma Model based on Moments of Boltzmann

Equation
The plasma produced in a DBD is characterized by high pressure and non-equilibrium
conditions. These conditions allow the system modeler to adopt two approximations
which will further simplify the problem of solving the moment equations. Solutions
based on these approximations have been validated against the solutions obtained from
the exact solution of the moments of the Boltzmann equation system and also against
solutions obtained from the PIC and Monte Carlo simulations [17]. These approximations
are:
1. A single-moment (fluid model) description using the continuity equations for the
various particle densities is satisfactory at atmospheric pressures. At such high
pressures, the momentum and energy of the different particles reach equilibrium in
relatively short times compared to the variations in the electric field due to space
charge buildup [11]. In [18] , the authors proved the validity of the fluid model
at atmospheric pressures by comparing it with a Monte Carlo simulation and a
condition was established which states that the single moment approximation is
valid up to fields of 1500 Td (1T d = 10−17 V cm2 . The Townsend (Td) is a unit
used to express the reduced field E/N where E is the electric field and N is the gas
number density)
2. Local field approximations are assumed (which is a direct consequence of the above
assumption), i.e. gas properties such as drift velocities and the collisional ionization
coefficient α are functions only of E/N. Therefore, the electron’s energy balance
equation is not included in the DBD model. Consequently, the energy conservation
in this model is not guaranteed. However, it was shown in [19] that the LFA does
not qualitatively affect the solution and quantitatively it underestimates the degree
of ionization and the lamp efficiency.
Since the objective of this work is to develop a circuit model suitable for the power
electronics driver design, the high accuracy in the internal variables of the plasma
is not a high priority. This is the reason for employing the LFA in the development
of the model shown in the paper.
Based on these approximations the model used in the research papers [7] , [11] , [20] , [21]
, [22] and [23] is described as follows:
1. Continuity equations for each particle in the plasma are used to find the number
density of the respective species. These equations are as follows:
• For charged particles:

∂m
+ ∇ · (−Dm ∇m + mμmE) = Sm (1.1)
∂t
• For neutral excited atoms:

∂z
= Sz (1.2)
∂t
where m and z are the densities of the charged and neutral excited particles re-
spectively. Dm and μm are the diffusion coefficient and mobility of particle m
respectively.
2. To make the model self-consistent, the electric field E is found by coupling Poisson’s
equation to the set of continuity equations.
∇ · E = ρv (1.3)
where is the permittivity of the material and ρv is the net volume charge density.
The source terms Sm and Sz in the continuity equations describe the different processes
that result in either the production or loss of the considered particle type. In [24] , a
model is given that describes the different reactions considered in the Xenon gas. These
reactions describe different processes like direct ionization due to inelastic collisions or
chemical reactions that result in step-wise ionization, excitation or change of the molecule
chemical state. These different processes for the Xe gas are shown in table 1.2.
The reactions shown in table 1.2 are included in the S term in the continuity equation
as terms consisting of the product of the different species densities involved in the reaction
multiplied by a rate coefficient which represents the probability or the rate of this reaction.
For the direct ionization process, the source term is the product of the ionization rate,
which is a function of the electric field E and the pressure p, and the total absolute
electron flux Γn .
1.4.1 Transport and rate coefficients

To completely define the problem, the boundary conditions, rate coefficients and trans-
port coefficients have to be identified. The rate and transport coefficients can be calcu-
lated from the distribution function of the different particles. This requires the solution
of the Boltzmann equation coupled with the system of equations 1.1 to 1.3. But this
is very time-consuming and thus no real advantage would be achieved by solving the
equation system 1.1 to 1.3 only.
Based on the second assumption, the stationary and homogenous Boltzmann equation
can be solved off-line for values of the local field over a certain range. This equation is
Table 1.2: Reaction processes for Xenon
No. Reaction Rate coefficient

1 Xe + e− → Xe+ + 2e− α(E)
2 Xe + e− → Xeexc + e− fexc (E)
− −
3 Xe + e → Xeres + e fres (E)
− −
4 Xe + e → Xemet + e fmet (E)
5 Xemet + e− → Xe+ + 2e− αstep (E)
6 Xeexc + Xe → Xeres + Xe K1 = 2 × 10−11 cm3 /s
7 Xeexc + Xe → Xemet + Xe K2 = 2 × 10−11 cm3 /s
8 Xeres + Xe → Xemet + Xe K3 = 2.2 × 10−14 cm3 /s
9 Xemet + Xe → Xeres + Xe K4 = 1.5 × 10−15 cm3 /s
10 Xeres + 2Xe → Xe2 (Ou+ ) + Xe K5 = 1.55 × 10−31 cm6 /s
11 Xemet + 2Xe → Xe2 (Σ3u ) + Xe K6 = 8.53 × 10−32 cm6 /s
12 Xe2 (Ou+ ) + Xe → Xe2 (Σ1u ) + Xe K7 = 8.7 × 10−11 cm3 /s
13 Xeres + Xeres → Xe+ + Xe + e− K8 = 5 × 10−10 cm3 /s
14 Xemet + Xemet → Xe+ + Xe + e− K9 = 5 × 10−10 cm3 /s
15 Xeres + Xemet → Xe+ + Xe + e− K10 = 5 × 10−10 cm3 /s
16 Xe+ + 2Xe → Xe+
2 + Xe K11 = 8 × 10−32 cm6 /s
17 Xe+ −
2 + e → Xeexc + Xe β = 5 × 10−13 cm3 /s
18 Xe2 (Σ1u ) → 2Xe + hν(172nm) K13 = 1.82 × 108 s−1
19 Xe2 (Σ3u ) → 2Xe + hν(172nm) K14 = 1 × 107 s−1
20 Xe2 (Ou+ ) → 2Xe + hν(152nm) K15 = 9 × 106 s−1
21 Xeres → Xe + hν(147nm) K16 = 4.3 × 105 s−1

22 Xeexc → Xeres + hν K17 = 2.7 × 107 s−1

23 Xeexc → Xemet + hν K18 = 2.53 × 107 s−1
given by
qE ∂f
· ∇w f (w, t) = (1.4)
m ∂t Coll
where f and m are the distribution function and mass of the considered particle, w
is the velocity vector, and finally the right hand side term represents the change in
the distribution function due to collisions with other particles. Once the distribution
function is found as a function of the velocity at a constant field E, the different transport
coefficients such as mobility and diffusion can be calculated. Furthermore, the reaction
rates such as the ionization coefficient are also obtained.
A look up table can be constructed which gives the values of the rate and transport
coefficients as a function of the electric field E [11]. The transport coefficients of the
electrons and ions obtained for the Xe gas are shown in figure 1.4(a) and 1.4(b) respec-
tively. Figure 1.5 shows the direct ionization coefficient as function of the local electric
field. Refer to Appendix B for more details.
4
x 10
14 1400
Di (Xe+)x2.104 (m2.s-1)
12 De.P (Pa.m2.s -1) 1200
Di (Xe+2)x2.104 (m2.s-1)
Pe.Px50 (Pa.m2.V-1.s-1)
10 1000 Pi .E(Xe+) (m.s -1)
Pi .E(Xe+2) (m.s -1)
8 800
6 600
4 400
2 200
0 0
0 500 1000 1500 2000 2500 3000 0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1
E/P (V.m-1.Pa-1) E/N (V.m2) x 10
-18
(a) Electron transport coefficients (b) Ion transport coefficients

Figure 1.4: Transport coefficients obtained from Boltzmann’s equation
1.4.2 Boundary conditions

The boundary conditions between the different materials have to be selected to model
the effect of these boundaries on the variables in the system. The configuration of a
symmetrical DBD lamp is shown in figure 1.3. As seen in the figure, there are three
different domains within the DBD lamp. The first one is the discharge plasma or the
2
10
0
10
-2
10
-4
10
D idir/P (m-1.Pa-1)
-6
10
-8
10
-10
10
-12
10
-14
10
0 50 100 150 200 250 300
E/P (V.m-1.Pa-1)
Figure 1.5: Direct ionization coefficient
ionized gas. The remaining two domains are the two dielectric barriers one on either
side of the plasma chamber. These dielectric barriers separate the plasma from the
metallic electrodes. Usually, both barriers are of the same material and dimensions. The
continuity equations for the different particles will be solved only in the plasma domain
while Poisson’s equation will be solved in the three domains with a suitable permittivity
for each of the domains.
Therefore, the boundary conditions can be summarized as follows:
• For Poisson’s equation:
1. The boundary conditions at x = xB1 and x = xB2 are on the electric field
flux density D such that the normal component of the D field is discontinuous
across the interface between the plasma and the dielectric by Gauss’s law. The
amount of discontinuity is equal to the accumulated surface charge density.
2. The electrode at x = 0 is grounded (V = 0) and the other electrode at x = L

is connected to a current source with current density JDBD . Since the current
in the dielectric barrier is a displacement current then ( dD
dt
= JDBD ) at x = L.
• For the continuity equations, the boundary conditions at x = xB1 and x = xB2 have
to describe the interaction between the different species and the dielectric surface:
1. For electrons: The electron emission process due to ion bombardment and/or
photo-ionization have to be taken into account. This is achieved by imposing
a boundary condition on the flux of the electrons at the boundary (Neumann
Boundary condition). This boundary condition depends on the ion flux and
photon flux only at the metallic electrode if available. In [11] , [24] , [22]
and [23] , the condition is taken at the metallic electrode to be:
Γn = γp Γp + γph Γph (1.5)
Γp and Γph are the fluxes of positive ions and photons respectively. γp is the
secondary electron emission coefficient. This coefficient is defined as the num-
ber of electrons emitted from the cathode material due to the bombardment
of one positive ion. γph is the secondary ionization coefficient due to photo-
ionization only at a metallic electrode. This boundary condition is essential
because the mechanism and speed of the streamer breakdown process depend
on the availability of these secondary electrons.
Another approach was used to express the boundary conditions at the di-
electric barrier for electrons in [25]. The boundary conditions are set on the
electron flux such that the flux at each barrier depends on the electron and ion
volume densities and the surface charge density at the respective boundary.
This boundary condition is written as:
Γn = Ksads n − Ksdes ns + Ksrec nps (1.6)
Where ns and ps are the negative and positive surface charge accumulated
on the barrier. Ksads and Ksdes coefficients describe the rate of the physi-
cal processes occurring due to the interaction between the electrons and the
barrier material like adsorption and desorption of electrons. Krec describes
the rate of the recombination taking place between the electrons and the ac-
cumulated positive surface charge. These coefficients are obtained from [25]:
Ksads = 1020 msec−1 , Ksdes = 1010 sec−1 and Ksrec = 100m3 sec−1
2. For positive ions: The boundary condition takes into account the Auger neu-
tralization on the barriers. In a number of papers [22] , [23] and [26], the
diffusion coefficient of positive ions is neglected which means that only one
boundary condition is required for the positive ion continuity equation. Usu-
ally the density at the boundary is taken to be zero at the anode. This implies
that the total positive charge is adsorbed by the dielectric material. However,
in a more general approach, two conditions have to be determined if the dif-
fusion coefficient is taken into account. This can be performed by having a
boundary condition on the ion flux at both boundaries [24] , [21] and [25].
The value of the flux depends on the ion density in the plasma and the ac-
cumulated surface negative charge at the respective boundary. Therefore the
condition may be written as:
Γp = Ksads p + Ksrec pns (1.7)
3. For neutral excited atoms: The boundary condition for these species is ex-
pressed as follows: Once the neutral excited atoms impact the dielectric surface
they lose their energy and return back to the ground state. This is equivalent
to setting a boundary condition on the number density to zero.
1.4.3 Surface charge calculation

As explained before, the main difference between the DBD mechanism and the other types
of discharges is the presence of the dielectric barriers. Free charges start to accumulate
on these barriers producing an opposite field to the applied field and finally causing the
extinction of the plasma channel due to the dominance of charge recombination process
over charge generation. In [24] , the charges accumulated on the barriers are calculated
as the difference between the fluxes of the positive ions and electrons at each side.
t
QG (t) = −q (Γp (zB1 , τ ) − Γn (zB1 , τ ))dτ (1.8)
0
t
QP (t) = q (Γp (zB2 , τ ) − Γn (zB2 , τ ))dτ (1.9)
0
G and P stand for the grounded and the powered electrode respectively.
In [25] , the accumulated surface charges were obtained by solving a differential equation
describing the rate of change of these surface charges based on the different physical
processes occurring at the surface. These equations are given as
dns
= Ksads n − Ksdes ns − Ksrec ns p (1.10)
dt
dps
= Ksads p − Ksrec ps n (1.11)
dt
1.5 Problem Statement

The life time of the excimer species is very short and due to the surface charge accumu-
lated on the dielectric surfaces as described above, the DBD lamps have been typically
operated with AC sinusoidal feeding voltage in the frequency range between 10kHz and a
few hundred kHz. However, recently it has been shown that operating the excimer lamp
with short excitation pulses will give better efficiencies [27]. The electrical to optical
efficiencies obtained based on a sinusoidal voltage supply are equal to or less than 20%
for Xe, 15% for KrCl and less than 12% for XeCl [28]. However, using high frequency
excitation pulses which are interrupted by idle times, it has been possible to increase the
efficiencies to about 60% for Xe [29].
A great challenge still facing the full industrial application of this lamp is finding the
optimum feeding pulsed waveform and designing the driver that is capable of supplying
the required waveform to the lamp but in a practical and cost competitive way. The
optimum shape of the electrical pulse depends on the nonlinear behavior of the lamp.
Therefore, a mathematical model for the lamp is helpful in understanding the character-
istics of the discharge to find the optimal waveform. The lamp can be modeled using the
PDE system described in the previous section. This model gives detailed information
about both the temporal and spatial evolution of the different particle species in the
DBD lamp. Therefore, this model might be helpful in the process of determining the
lamp performance subject to the different parameters of the electrical waveform supplied
to the lamp. However, the drawback of such a PDE model is the large computation time
needed to reach the solution.
The design procedure of the suitable driver for the DBD lamp requires an accurate
enough circuit model for the lamp. The circuits proposed until now in the literature to
model the DBD lamp are approximated models and depend on some type of experimental
curve fitting. This is a problem, because it is important to design the driver based on
an accurate model for the lamp yet the model should require small simulation time to
speed up the design process.
Different driver topologies have been used for pulsed excitation of DBD lamps. Most
of these topologies depend on the presence of a pulse transformer to energize the lamp
with the required high voltage [30]. However, under pulsed excitation conditions with
nearly square pulses at high frequencies, the parasitic components of the transformer will
interact with the lamp and will affect the output waveform of the power supply. Further-
more, the pulses required to increase the efficiency of the DBD lamp are characterized by
a fast rise time in the range of tens of nanoseconds, therefore the inductance of the system
has to be minimized to achieve the required pulse shapes [31]. Therefore, an accurate
enough model of the transformer has to be included in the design procedure. Also, the
transformer design should take into account special constraints related to the parasitics
of the transformer like the leakage inductance and the inter-winding capacitance.
1.6 Thesis Objectives
The main objectives of this thesis can be summarized as follows:
1. To obtain a circuit model for the DBD lamp which will give detailed information
about the electro-optic physical behavior of the DBD lamp. This model will be
essential for determining the sensitivity of the applied electrical waveform param-
eters.
2. To develop a reduced order circuit model for the DBD lamp that will describe the
electrical characteristics of the DBD lamp. This model will be used in the design
procedure of the lamp driver.
3. To choose a suitable waveform to feed the lamp that would enhance the efficiency
of the lamp. It is essential to determine the influence of the different parameters
of this waveform on the lamp performance like the input electrical power and lamp
efficiency.
4. To select and design a suitable driver that supplies the DBD with the required
waveform. The objective of this driver is to maximize the lamp efficiency. The
system efficiency depends on the driver efficiency and the lamp efficiency. The
lamp efficiency is much lower than the driver efficiency therefore any increase in
the lamp efficiency will have more influence on the system efficiency.
1.7 Thesis Outline

This thesis contains 6 chapters and 6 appendices. They are organized as follows:
• The DBD lamp circuit models proposed in the literature and proposed in this thesis
are presented in chapter 2. The model proposed in this work uses the PDEs of the
DBD and the Finite Volume Method (FVM) to develop a circuit based model for
the lamp. The model provides the electrical behavior of the lamp in terms of a
relation between the input current and the voltage across the lamp. In addition,
the model gives access to the evolution of all excimer species which are directly
responsible for producing the UV optical output.
• Chapter 3 describes the effects of the excitation waveform on the different charac-
teristics of the DBD lamp like the discharge appearance, the UV optical spectrum
and the lamp efficiency. The reasons for the higher efficiency obtained under pulsed
excitation are discussed. A sensitivity analysis is performed to show the effect of
the parameters of the proposed current waveform on the input power and efficiency
of the lamp.
• In chapter 4, the different driver topologies currently used to excite the DBD lamp
are briefly reviewed. Then the proposed driver is demonstrated. The driver opera-
tion is analyzed in order to derive design guidelines that are useful for developing
the design procedure. Simulations of the coupled system combining the proposed
driver and the DBD model derived in chapter 2 is also demonstrated.
• Chapter 5 describes the experimental setup and the analysis of the results obtained
during testing. In addition, the model developed in chapter 2 is verified with respect
to the experimental waveforms.
• Chapter 6 concludes the thesis and highlights the contributions and the suggested
future work.
• More details about the discharge physics taking place in the DBD are given in
Appendix A. An explanation of the excimer formation process is briefly mentioned.
• The first three moments of the Boltzmann equation are described in Appendix B.
In addition, details regarding the calculation of the transport and rate coefficients
is also given.
• More details about the DBD circuit based models proposed in the literature are
given in Appendix C.
• The transformer design procedure utilized in this work is described in Appendix D.
• A proposed method for eliminating the oscillations caused by the leakage induc-
tance and inter-winding capacitance of the flyback transformer is demonstarted in
Appendix E.
• The procedure for measuring the UV output of the lamp is given in Appendix F.
The approach used to calculate the optical efficiency is also described.
Chapter 2
Reduced Order Circuit Model of the

DBD Lamp
2.1 Introduction
The DBD lamp represents a very special load from the electrical point of view; it changes
its behavior significantly during the discharge event. Prior to breakdown, the lamp
appears nearly as a pure capacitor. As soon as the breakdown starts, the lamp behaves
more as a variable resistance with a leading power factor. To design a power supply
for such a load, it is essential to have a model that describes the behavior of the load
accurately but yet is also suitable for circuit simulation in terms of a reasonable simulation
time and compatibilty with circuit simulation software packages. Such a model of the
DBD lamp is a valuable tool for the power supply designer as it allows coupling effects
between the power supply and the DBD lamp to be studied. The coupling between the
DBD lamp and the power supply allows the designer to analyze the impact of component
parasitics on the lamp performance and also to optimally choose the power supply devices’
ratings.
The lamp model will also simplify the task of deriving the relation between the supply
waveform and the UV output power. This is a necessary requirement for the optimization
of the input electrical waveform to maximize the lamp efficiency. Therefore, it is essential
that the circuit model makes provision for providing a signal for the optical output power.
The circuit models of the DBD lamp suggested in the literature give a macroscopic
description of the discharge process as they show only the temporal evolution of the
lamp electrical characteristics. On the other hand, the PDE physics model of the lamp
22
Chapter 2. Reduced Order Circuit Model of the DBD Lamp 23
describes the discharge in more detail as it offers both temporal and spatial evolutions
of the different variables as described in chapter 1. Therefore, to obtain an indication
for the optical output in the simulation, the circuit model has to be based on the PDE
physics model.
The circuit model proposed in this thesis depends on using a space discretization
method to transform the PDE system governing the DBD process into a system of Ordi-
nary Differential Equations (ODE). This ODE system can be represented in the form of
electrical circuits using elements like resistances, capacitors, dependent and independent
voltage or current sources. This circuit model will provide information about the electric
field and the different particles in the plasma (for example, the excimers which produce
the UV photons). The proposed circuit model will also contain all of the different trans-
port coefficients (mobility and diffusivity) and rate coefficients. Therefore, the effect of
these coefficients on the electrical and optical characteristics can be extracted. The Finite
Volume Method (FVM) has been used in this thesis to convert the PDE system into the
equivalent ODE system. The reasons for choosing the FVM over the Finite Difference
Method (FDM) and Finite Element Method (FEM) is discussed later in this chapter.
In the next section, a brief survey on DBD circuit models proposed in the literature
is given. Section 2.3 discusses the discretization of the PDE model of the DBD lamp.
A decoupling procedure for the PDE model is proposed in section 2.4. In section 2.5,
the FVM is used to derive the ODE system. The electrical circuit model and the op-
tical model are demonstrated in sections 2.6 and 2.7 respectively. Normalization of the
DBD model is described in section 2.8. Some simulation results are demonstrated in
section 2.9. A reduced order model based on using the minimum number of volumes is
discussed in section 2.10. A brief review is given in section 2.11 about some of the model
order reduction techniques especially the ones suitable for nonlinear systems. Finally, a
summary of this chapter is in section 2.12.
2.2 Literature Survey on Circuit Models of DBD

All of the circuit models proposed in the literature are based on the fact that the current
drawn by the lamp consists of two components. The first one is a displacement current
due to the capacitive nature of the cell. In all models this displacement current is modeled
using capacitors representing the dielectric barriers and the capacitive nature of the gas
gap. The second component of the DBD current is the conduction current which appears
only in the gap during the discharge process. Based on the modeling of the conduction
current, the models are classified according to the following two approaches: a passive
element based model and a voltage dependent current source based model.
2.2.1 Passive Elements based Models
In these models, the DBD lamp is modeled using passive elements like variable resistances
or Zener diodes as in [32] , [33] , [34] , [35] and [36]. These passive elements have certain
governing equations that can be used to simulate the conduction current flowing through
the lamp during the discharge phase. Experiments or simulation results obtained from a
PDE model are used to determine the parameters of these governing equations.
In [33] and [34] , the authors used a variable conductance to model the plasma. The
conductance value depends on the difference between two terms. The first term models
the ionization in the gas and is taken to be proportional to the conductance multiplied
by a step function whose value is unity when the applied voltage is higher than a certain
threshold value representing the breakdown voltage. The second term resembles the
recombination between the electrons and ions which decreases the conductance and it is
taken to be proportional to the square of the conductance.
In [34] , the authors suggested using the power loss in the variable conductance as an
indicator of the UV optical output. However, it is stated in the paper that this power loss
does not represent the absolute UV flux but it maintains a relatively correct behavior for
a wide range of supply waveform parameters. This way of calculating the UV output is
not based on the actual physics of the discharge. Therefore it cannot be considered as a
general indicator.
The models presented in references [33] and [34] model the diffuse form of the DBD.
In [36] , the filamentary mode is modeled using the same concept of variable conduc-
tances. The circuit is constructed from a number of parallel branches to represent indi-
vidual micro-discharges. The values of the elements in each of the parallel branches are
calculated based on an assumed geometry for each micro-discharge.
The authors of [32] and [35] suggested the use of a Zener diode to model the discharge
process occurring in the DBD cell. The i − v relation of the Zener diodes is chosen based
on experiments to simulate the behavior of the current drawn by the lamp. The reader
is referred to Appendix C section C.1 for more details on these models.
2.2.2 Voltage Dependent Current Source based Models

In these models, the conduction current in the gap is modeled as a voltage dependent
current source [37] and [38]. In [37] , the current source is related to the supply voltage
and the total external current. By measuring these variables, the internal conduction
current of the lamp can be calculated and then other variables like the gap voltage,
charge transferred through the gap and the dielectric voltage can be calculated.
The model proposed in [38] represents the conduction current in a filamentary DBD
by a sinusoidal current source whose value is proportional to the derivative of the supply
voltage with a periodic time in the range of nanoseconds based on experimental obser-
vations. This current source is operating only when the supply voltage exceeds a certain
threshold value corresponding to the breakdown voltage of the gap. In this model the
authors used a variable capacitance to model the gas gap due to the change in the permit-
tivity of the gas during the discharge. This model was also based mainly on observations
under sinusoidal excitation. The reader is referred to Appendix C section C.2 for the
details of these models.
In summary the existing models are deficient in the following ways:
1. They are not based on the real physics of the DBD; rather, they depend more on
empirical formulations supported by experimental observations for limited operat-
ing conditions. All of the circuit models presented use experiments or simulations
to find and adjust the values of the parameters in the circuit. Therefore, these
models cannot be generally applied for arbitrary excitation waveforms.
2. All of the models rely on some fixed threshold voltage to initiate the discharge.
This threshold is represented by a step function in the model. This function can
cause convergence problems for the simulation software. Furthermore, a threshold
function does not represent the real physics of the process because this threshold
depends also on the free charges remaining in the discharge channel. Moreover,
space charge has been neglected in the models proposed until now. In [33] and [34],
the authors used a low pass filter to smooth the step function but this filter will
introduce some dynamic effects on the other variables which will result in incorrect
behavior of the optical output.
3. These models do not give access to the internal variables which are helpful in the
process of optimizing the supply waveform to reach the highest output power. It
is also essential to have some indicator for the UV output. This requires having
access to the excimer species density to obtain more accurate results.
4. The transport coefficients like the mobility or the diffusion coefficients are assumed
constant while in fact they depend on the electric field in the gap.
2.3 Discretization of the PDE model

The physics of the DBD can be described using the PDE system described in chapter 1.
To obtain a model suitable for simulation and control purposes, the PDE system should
be converted to an ODE system through discretization of space. The main obstacle is
that the number of ODE’s generated is equal to the number of volumes used in the
discretization scheme. In most of the cases this number is large, typically in the range of
hundreds or even thousands. Therefore solving these ODE’s would be time consuming
especially in the case of nonlinear systems. This limits the use of these physics-based
models in the process of controller design or in simulating the complete system that
includes the DBD lamp to evaluate the overall performance. Therefore it would be of
great benefit to develop a reduced order model that would capture the behavior of the
system to be sufficiently accurate and provide information about both the electrical and
optical behavior. All possible approaches to simplify the model should be used to reach
this goal whether it is physically or mathematically based.
The objective of this chapter is to attain the smallest possible system of ODEs de-
scribing the dynamic behavior of the DBD lamp with an acceptable degree of accuracy.
To convert the PDE system to an ODE one, the dependency on space can be eliminated
through discretizing the solution space and therefore expressing the space derivatives in
terms of the values at the different mesh nodes. There are three main methods that can
be used:
• Finite Difference Method (FDM):
In the FDM, the differential form of the PDE’s is used. Through approximations
of the first and second space derivative, the PDE’s are converted into ODE’s.
• Finite Element Method (FEM):

In the FEM, some basis functions are chosen to describe the space dependency of
the variables. Using Galerkin’s method or the variational method, the PDE’s are
converted into ODE’s.
• Finite Volume Method (FVM):

The FVM deals with the integral form of the PDEs. Green’s formula is utilized to
transform the space derivative into a surface integration which is easy to compute
as will be described in detail.
In this thesis, the FVM is chosen to perform the discretization process of the continuity
equations. There are three reasons for this choice:
1. The ODE’s derived using the FVM include explicitly the flux terms at the bound-
aries of the control volume. Therefore, it is easy to include flux based boundary
conditions in the problem. This makes the FVM suitable for discretizing the DBD
contiuity equations since the boundary conditions used are flux based as described
in chapter 1.
2. The FVM is a naturally conservative method because in the discretization process

the flux coming out of one volume is forced to be the flux going into the neighboring
volume. Therefore, the quantity being solved for is naturally conserved during the
solution. This makes the FVM favorable in solving mass continuity equations which
are used to describe the evolution of the particles’ densities in the DBD model.
Therefore, the FVM for example has been usually used in the fluid dynamics field.
3. Since the objective of this thesis is to develop a circuit based model for the DBD
lamp, it is required to have a simple procedure to obtain the ODEs that can be
converted to the circuit model. In the FVM, the discretization of the PDEs is
based on integrating them over the chosen control volumes. The integral form of
the PDEs can be directly viewed as Kirchoff Current Law (KCL) describing a node
in an equivalent electrical circuit. Therefore, the derivation of the circuit model
using the FVM is systematic and simple as will be described in detail in the next
sections.
The results obtained using the FVM are compared to those obtained by the commer-
cial FEM package Comsol Multiphysics. Comsol Multiphysics allows different coupled
physical equations to be modeled using a very user friendly interface. The software
contains multiple solvers for linear or nonlinear problems and also an automatic mesh
generator.
The circuit model developed in this thesis is based on a 1-D Cartesian coordinates
solution of the different PDEs. By using this model, the following assumptions are
considered:
1. The discharge gap is much smaller compared to the lamp length in the case of a
cylindrical lamp which is usual in the case of DBD lamps. The end effects are also
neglected.
2. A diffuse discharge occurs in the gap. Under diffuse discharge the plasma channel
covers the whole gap and therefore the problem can be solved as a 1-D problem. If
the discharge occurs in a filamentary mode, then the 1-D model may not be enough
to describe the problem because of the interaction between the filaments which are
distributed across the whole area of the barrier.
In the case of streamer propagation as demonstrated in the DBD process in chapter

1, the electric field varies strongly in both space and time. Near the dielectric barriers
the electric field variation is particularly great, which demands a very fine spatial mesh
near the barriers, whereas the body of the discharge plasma rarely exhibits the steep
potential or concentration gradients associated with the barriers region. A non-uniform
spatial mesh is therefore essential for an accurate and efficient numerical treatment of
electrode phenomena and the body of the gas simultaneously [26]. The FVM allows
the use of non-uniform mesh easily and therefore the model developed in this chapter
uses a non-uniform mesh which is symmetric about the midpoint and it is denser at the
boundaries of the plasma than in the volume.
2.4 Decoupling of the PDE system

The full PDE model described in chapter 1 is composed of two coupled subsystems:
• An electrical subsystem containing the charged particles’ continuity equations and

Poisson’s equation.
• An optical subsystem containing the neutral particles’ continuity equations which

are solved to give the optical output.
Reference [39] suggested that simulating only the electrical subsystem still gives good
agreement with the full model results in terms of the i − v relation. An objective of
this work is to obtain the optical output in addition to the electrical characteristics
of the DBD. Therefore, the approach suggested here is based on constructing a one
way coupling between the two subsystems rather than completely neglecting the optical
subsystem. The advantage of this one way coupling is also to decrease the solution time
of the equations.
These two subsystems are coupled through the source terms depending on the reac-
tions included in the chemical model and through the reaction rates. The source terms
Electric Field,
Electrons &
Ions Densities Optical
Input Output
Current Energy
Electrical Optical
Subsystem Subsystem
Neutral Particles
Terminal Densities
Voltage
Figure 2.1: System Decoupling Block Diagram
in the electron and ion continuity equations are based on two sets of reactions. The first
set of reactions describes only the direct ionization due to the collision of electrons and
ground state atoms (reaction number 1 in table 1.2). The second set of reactions describes
the ionization due to neutral excited particles’ reactions (reactions number 5, 13, 14 and
15 in table 1.2). The one way coupling proposed here is performed by neglecting the
second set of reactions. This approach was verified by comparing the results obtained
from simulating a fully coupled system and a one way coupled system as proposed above.
The simulations were performed using the Comsol software package.
The results obtained from the FEM solution for a 1-D model show that this one way
coupling still gives accurate results for both the i − v characteristics and the input and
the output energies as demonstrated next. In this set of simulations, the DBD lamp is
energized by an input current waveform which is composed of a positive and negative
pulse as shown in figure 2.2. This waveform is the ideal waveform that is generated by
the proposed DBD driver described in chapter 4. Therefore it is frequently used in this
work. Figure 2.3 shows the DBD voltage waveforms obtained from the fully coupled
model and the proposed one way coupling model for the same input current parameters.
It is clear that there is good agreement between the two waveforms. Figures 2.4 and 2.5
give the time evolution of both input and output energies per cycle for both models and
the agreement between the results is also illustrated.
Based on the agreement between the waveforms shown in figures 2.3, 2.4 and 2.5, the
fully coupled system can be simplified using this one way coupling approach between the
two subsystems. This simplification leads to a reduction in the number of variables that
have to be solved for at every time step. This can be considered as the first approximation
in the process of obtaining a suitable reduced order circuit model of the DBD lamp. The
agreement in the results of the fully coupled and the one way coupled systems is also
obtained for different current waveforms such as a sinusoidal current.
Therefore, the full DBD model has been divided into two subsystems. The electrical
subsystem (charged particles continuity equations and Poisson’s equation) is solved first
with the required input current waveform or even coupled to an external circuit. The
results of this subsystem are the terminal voltage, input energy, electric field distribution,
electron density distribution and the ion density distribution. Using these distributions
the optical output can be obtained from the optical subsystem (neutral excited particles
continuity equations) as a post-processing step.
Ipk
2
iDBD(A)
0
PWc
DT
-2
PWv
-4
-6
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 1.2
t(sec) -5
x 10
Figure 2.2: DBD current waveform proposed in this work
2.4.1 Electrical Subsystem

The gas that has been used in this study is Xenon (Xe) since a number of papers have
verified the kinetic model of Xe against experimental results. The PDE’s of the electrical
th
DBD Voltage (10 cycle)
7000
Comsol-C
Comsol-D
6000
5000
4000
3000
DBD
V
2000
1000
-1000
-2000
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 1.2
t(sec) x 10
-5
Figure 2.3: Comparison between the coupled and decoupled systems: DBD voltage ob-
tained from Comsol
-3
x 10
10
Comsol-D
Comsol-C
9.5
9
Input Energy per cycle(J/cycle)
8.5
7.5
6.5
6
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Cycles
Figure 2.4: Comparison between the coupled and decoupled systems: Evolution of the
input energy per cycle obtained from Comsol. At some cycles only dots appear because
the energy per cycle from both systems coincide
-3
x 10
7.5
Comsol-D
Comsol-C
6.5
Output Energy per cycle(J/cycle)

6
5.5
4.5
4
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Cycles
Figure 2.5: Comparison between the coupled and decoupled systems: Evolution of the
output energy per cycle obtained from Comsol. At some cycles only dots appear because
the energy per cycle from both systems coincide
subsystem in the case of Xe gas are composed of the following equations:
1. Electron Continuity equation:

∂n
+ ∇ · Γn = Sn (2.1)
∂t
Γn = −Dn ∇n + nμnE (2.2)
Sn = α(E) |Γn − βnp2 (2.3)
where n is the electron density, Γn is the electron flux. The first term in the
source term in equation 2.3 represents the direct ionization with the ionization
coefficient α. The second term represents the recombination between the electrons
and molecular ions with the recombination coefficient β.
2. Ion Continuity equation:

∂p
+ ∇ · Γp = Sp (2.4)
∂t
Γp = −Dp ∇p + pμpE (2.5)
Sp = α(E) |Γn − K11 No2 p (2.6)

where p is the ion density, Γp is the ion flux. The first term in the ion source in
equation 2.6 is the direct ionization while the second term represents the transition
of ions to molecular ions through a three body collision with two ground state
atoms.
3. Molecular Ion Continuity equation:
∂p2
+ ∇ · Γp 2 = S p 2 (2.7)
∂t
Γp2 = −Dp2 ∇p2 + p2 μp2E (2.8)
Sp2 = K11 No2 p − βnp2 (2.9)
where p2 is the molecular ion density, Γp2 is the molecular ion flux.
4. Poisson’s equation:
∇ · E = ρv = q(p + p2 − n) (2.10)
In the case of a diffuse discharge, the problem can be modeled in 1-D. Therefore the
dimensions of the DBD lamp under consideration are given in figure 1.3 and are repeated
in figure 2.6:
Metal electrodes
Dielectric layers
To voltage
to the Power
generator
Supply
Discharge gap
Tomass
to the
Ground
0.008
0.006
0.002
(dimensions in m)
Dielectric Discharge gap Dielectric
x(m)
x=0 x = xB1 x = xB2 x=L
Figure 2.6: DBD reactor 1-D equivalent geometry
The boundary conditions governing the electrical subsystem are as follows:

1. Boundary condition on the electron continuity equations: a specific outgoing flux

at both boundaries of the gas volume (dielectric surface) given by:
Γn = Ksads n − Ksdes ns + Ksrec nps (2.11)
2. Boundary condition on the ion continuity equations: a specific outgoing flux at

both boundaries of the gas volume (dielectric surface) given by:
Γp = Ksads p + Ksrec pns (2.12)
3. Boundary condition on the molecular ion continuity equations: a specific outgoing

flux at both boundaries of the gas volume (dielectric surface) given by:
Γp2 = Ksads p2 + Ksrec p2 ns (2.13)
4. The accumulated surface charge densities ns and ps are governed by the following
ODEs:
dns
= Ksads n − Ksdes ns − Ksrec ns (p + p2 ) (2.14)
dt
dps
= Ksads (p + p2 ) − Ksrec ps n (2.15)
dt
5. Boundary conditions on Poisson’s equation:
• Flux discontinuity at both dielectric surfaces because of the accumulated sur-

face charges:
o d Ed − o Eg = ρs (2.16)
where Ed is the electric field in the dielectric and Eg is the electric field in the
gas, at the boundary between the dielectric and the gas.
• One of the outer electrodes has a zero potential.
• In this work, an injected current is taken as the boundary condition of the un-
grounded electrode. Therefore, the electric field Es (t) in the dielectric barrier
with a cross section area A connected to the external source is related to the
injected current iDBD as follows:
1
Es (t) = iDBD dt (2.17)
Ad
An essential factor for evaluating the performance of the DBD lamp is its electrical to
optical efficiency. To calculate this efficiency, the input electrical energy during one cycle
T can be calculated using equation 2.18.
T
Win = vDBD (s)iDBD (s) ds (2.18)
t−T
2.4.2 Optical Subsystem

The optical subsystem is composed of the ODEs of the excited neutral species described
in chapter 1. Through these equations, the densities of the excimer molecules can be
obtained and based on these densities the output optical power can be calculated. The
movement of the neutral particles is not influenced by the electric field and their diffusion
is virtually negligble. Therefore the equations that describe these particles are of the form:
dz(x, t)
= Sz (x, t) (2.19)
dt
The source term Sz couples the charged particles with the neutral particles based
on the chemical reactions included in the kinetic model of the gas used in the lamp.
The kinetic model used here for the Xenon, as shown in figure 2.7, contains six neutral
particles in addition to the electrons, ions and molecular ions.
2 Xe e
Xe 12.13

Xe
Energy (eV)
e e
*
e
Collisions Xe
exc
Radiative Xe
transitons e
*
2 Xe Xeres 8.45
Xe2* (0u ) Xe
Xe
Xe *
Xemet e 8.32
Xe2* (1 6 u ) 2 Xe
Xe
hȞ147nm
Xe ( 6 u )
* 3
2
hȞ152nm hȞ172nm
Xe(1S0) 0
Figure 2.7: Xenon Kinetic Model
The neutral particles are the metastable state of Xenon described by the density
nmet , the resonant state described by nres and a third level that collects all of the higher
excited atoms which is described by nexc . The remaining particles are the excimers which
produce the UV output. Three different excimers are considered in this model. Table 2.1
shows the excimers and their associated UV wavelengths. The optical output energy is
Table 2.1: Excimer Particles
Excimer Wavelength
0u level nexci0u 152nm
1s level nexci1s 172nm
3s level nexci3s 172nm
calculated from the densities of the excimers. The output energy for the 172nm photons
is given by the following equation.
T xB2
Ahc nexci1s (x, s) nexci3s (x, s)
Wout = + dxds (2.20)
λ t−T xB1 τexci1s τexci3s
where A is the cross section area of the lamp, h is Planck’s constant, c is speed of light,
λ is the wavelength of the UV radiation of interest, nexci1s and nexci3s are the densities of
the excimers producing the wavelength λ and τexci1s and τexci3s are the life times of each
excimer respectively.
2.5 Model Derivation using Finite Volume Method

The PDEs describing the continuity equations of the electrical subsystem will be trans-
formed into a number of ODEs using the FVM. The number of these ODEs is equal to the
number of volumes, which will be used to discretize the solution space, multiplied by the
number of PDEs used to describe the physics of a volume. The different approximations
used in this derivation are shown for each equation in the following subsections.
2.5.1 Continuity Equations

The procedure used to convert the continuity equations for electrons and ions to a number
of ODEs is described in this section. By performing the volume integration on the
continuity equation for the particle m (m corresponds to n, p and p2 ) over a certain
control volume V oli with surface area As , where xi and hi are the control volume center
and width respectively, the following equation is obtained:

∂m
dV ol + Γm · dAs = Sm dV ol (2.21)
∂t
xi-1/2 xi+1/2
hi
Voli
xi-1 xi xi+1
di di+1
Figure 2.8: Geometry of the 1-D control volume used in the FVM model derivation
Using the geometry given in figure 2.8 the different terms in equation 2.21 can be calcu-
lated as follows:
1. The first and third terms can be approximated using a step-wise profile for the
variable m over the control volume. Therefore the value of m across the control
volume would be a constant value of mi .

∂m dmi
dV ol = V oli (2.22)
∂t dt

Sm dV ol = V oli Smi (2.23)
2. Since this is a 1-D problem, the second term in equation 2.21 is computed based
on the fact that the flux Γm is only in one direction:

Γm · dAs = A(Γi+1/2 − Γi−1/2 ) (2.24)
The flux Γm is composed of a diffusive Γdif f and convective Γconv component as

mentioned earlier in chapter 1. The equation that describes the flux at boundary
i + 1/2 is given by:
Γi+1/2 = (−Dm ∇m + mμmE)i+1/2 (2.25)
• The diffusion flux is calculated based on a piecewise linear profile of the density
m between the nodes (Central Difference Scheme):
mi+1 − mi
−Dmi+1/2 ∇mi+1/2 = −Dmi+1/2 (2.26)
di+1
• To calculate the convective flux the density at the boundary i+1/2 the density
m has to be calculated at this boundary. Since the variables are the values at
the midpoint of the volume, the density at the boundaries has to be approx-
imated. There are different approximation techinques that can be used [40].
Examples of these techniques are:
(a) Upwinding Scheme

(b) Central Differencing Scheme (CDS)
(c) Quadratic Upwinding Scheme (Quick)
In the case of the upwinding scheme, the variable m at the boundary of the
volume is given by:
⎧
⎨ mi μmi+1/2 Ei+1/2 > 0
mi+1/2 = ⎩ (2.27)
mi+1 μmi+1/2 Ei+1/2 < 0
The CDS scheme expresses the boundary value of m as the average of the two
surrounding volumes’ variables. So for example, in a uniform mesh:
mi + mi+1
mi+1/2 = (2.28)
2
CDS has been shown to produce oscillations in the solution as soon as the
Peclet number of the volume is higher than 2. Usually these oscillations lead to
divergence in the solution. The upwinding scheme is just a first order technique
and therefore it does not provide accurate solutions. It also introduces artificial
diffusion in the solution. On the other hand the advantage of the upwinding
scheme is that it does not cause any oscillation in the solution. The Quick
scheme is based on a quadratic approximation of the variable m from which
the value at the boundary i + 1/2 is calculated. The Quick scheme includes
also an indication of the direction of the flow through choosing two out of
the three points on the upstream side of the boundary under consideration.
Therefore, the Quick scheme has been used in deriving the equations in this
thesis due to its higher accuracy (third order scheme) and transportiveness
(effect of the flow direction). As an example, for a uniform mesh:
⎧
⎨ 3/8 mi+1 + 6/8 mi − 1/8 mi−1 μmi+1/2 Ei+1/2 > 0
mi+1/2 = ⎩ (2.29)
3/8 mi + 6/8 mi+1 − 1/8 mi+2 μmi+1/2 Ei+1/2 < 0
Combining all of these equations, the final ODE that describes the evolution of the
volume density mi of a charged particle is given by:
dmi
V oli = V oli Smi − A(Γi+1/2 − Γi−1/2 ) (2.30)
dt
Dividing equation 2.30 by the cross section area A results in the following simplified
expression
dmi
hi = hi Smi − (Γi+1/2 − Γi−1/2 ) (2.31)
dt
2.5.2 Poisson’s Equation

Poisson’s equation is solved analytically by assuming a stepwise profile for the net volume
charge in the control volume. The solution of Poisson’s equation is formulated to give
the voltage vDBD across the DBD lamp as a function of the injected current iDBD . Due
to the presence of the dielectric barriers, the voltage vd = vd1 + vd2 across these barriers
is given by:
1
vd = iDBD dt (2.32)
Cd
where Cd is the equivalent capacitance of the dielectric barriers in the lamp. The plasma
can be divided into a number of volumes (The same sections used in the averaging of
the continuity equations) where each volume carries a uniform net volume charge ρi as
shown in figure 2.9 below. Poisson’s equation can be solved analytically for each volume
to give the electric fields Ei−1/2 and Ei+1/2 at the boundaries of each volume in terms of
the voltage difference across that volume vi and the uniform net volume charge density
ρi . The derivation of the equation in 1-D is as follows for volume i:
d2 V (x) ρi
= − (2.33)
x2
ρi
V (x) = − x2 + k1 x + k2 (2.34)
2
The boundary conditions on this volume is a voltage Vi−1/2 and Vi+1/2 on the left side
and right side respectively. Based on the voltage at the boundary i − 1/2, the constant
k2 = Vi−1/2 and
ρi 2
Vi+1/2 = − h + k1 hi + Vi−1/2 (2.35)
2 i

ʌ2
ʌ3
ʌ1
ʌ4
x
h1 h2 h3 h4
v1 v2 v3 v4
x=0 x=L
V 0 V V
Plasma Dielectric
Figure 2.9: Distribution of net volume charge in plasma
The voltage difference across the volume is given by

ρi 2
vi = Vi+1/2 − Vi−1/2 = − h + k1 hi (2.36)
2 i
Therefore,
vi ρi hi
k1 = + (2.37)
hi 2

The electric field E(x) is given by
dV (x) ρi x

E(x) =− = + k1 a x (2.38)
x
Substituting for k1 from equation 2.37, the electric field at the two boundaries can be
determined as follows:
E i+1/2 = ( ρi hi − vi )a x (2.39)
2 hi
i−1/2 = (− ρi hi − vi )a x
E (2.40)
2 hi
Ampere’s law is used in order to find the ODE that describes the voltage across each
volume:

∇×H = J c + ∂ E (2.41)
∂t
is the magnetic field and J c is the conduction current density vectors. By taking
where H
the divergence of equation 2.41, the LHS is equal to zero and therefore,

∂E
∇ · (J c + )=0 (2.42)
∂t
Equation 2.42 states that the current at any point has to be conserved. Since the current
at the boundary of the dielectric barrier is equal to the injected current iDBD , the current
at any point in the 1-D model has to be equal to this injected current. The current in
the plasma consists of two components:
1. Conduction current ic : which is based on the movement of the charged particles

(electrons and positive ions). The movement of these particles is given by the flux
term Γ in the continuity equations given by equation 2.25.
2. Displacement current idis : which is based on the time derivative of the electric field
E.
Therefore the current at any point in the plasma has to satisfy the following equation:
∂E
iDBD a x = ic a x + idis a x = qA(Γp + Γp2 − Γn )a x + Ao a x (2.43)
∂t
This implies that the current at each boundary in the discretized equations has to satisfy
the following equation:
dEi+1/2
iDBD = ic(i+1/2) + Ao (2.44)
dt
By substituting for Ei+1/2 from equation 2.35, an ODE that describes the time derivative
of the voltage difference across the volume i can be obtained.
o A dvi Ahi dρi
iDBD = ic(i+1/2) − + (2.45)
hi dt 2 dt
But ρi is the net volume charge density in volume i so it can be expressed in terms of ni ,
pi and p2i from the continuity equations. The final equation is given by:
o A dvi 1
= −iDBD + (ici+1/2 + ici−1/2 ) (2.46)
hi dt 2
The capacitance of each volume is given by:
o A
Ci = (2.47)
hi
Therefore the final ODE describing the voltage across any volume i in the bulk is given
by:
dvi 1
Ci = −iDBD + (ici+1/2 + ici−1/2 ) (2.48)
dt 2
The ODE of the two volumes that are located at the boundary of the dielectric barrier
are given by the same equation as above with the exception that the conduction current
at one of the boundaries corresponds to the net flux of particles due to the different
reactions with the dielectric barrier as given by equations 2.11, 2.12 and 2.13.
If the injected current iDBD is known then equation 2.48 can be directly used to solve
for the voltages in the gap. But if the DBD lamp is connected to an external circuit then
an additional ODE has to be coupled to the system of equations previously described.
This ODE can be obtained by applying KVL in the external circuit. For the case of a
voltage source connected to the lamp through a series RL circuit, the additional ODE
can be written as:
diDBD
vs (t) = iDBD Rs + Ls + vDBD (2.49)
dt
where

N
vDBD = vi + vd (2.50)
i=1
2.6 Electrical Model

The ODE’s describing the voltage across each volume in the form of equation 2.48 can be
coupled to the ODEs obtained for the continuity equations 2.31 of the ion and electron
volume densities to give the complete model for the electrical subsystem. The boundary
conditions for the contiuity equations have to be included in the system of equations.
The flux for each particle at the interface between the gas and the dielectric is given by
equations (2.11, 2.12 and 2.13) which depend on the accumulated surface charge densities
ns and ps . Therefore the ODE’s describing these surface charges at each dielectric barrier
(equations 2.14 and 2.15) have to be included in the system of equations. Finally, all of
the ODE’s can be combined to form a system equation in the following form:
·
x= f (x(t), u(t)) (2.51)
y(t) = Cx(t) (2.52)
where x(t) is the state vector given by:

⎡ ⎤
v
⎢ ⎥
⎢ ⎥
⎢ vd ⎥
⎢ ⎥
⎢ ⎥
⎢ n ⎥
⎢ ⎥
⎢ ⎥
x= ⎢ p ⎥ (2.53)
⎢ ⎥
⎢ ⎥
⎢
⎢ p2 ⎥
⎥
⎢ ⎥
⎢ ⎥
⎢ ns ⎥
⎣ ⎦
ps
v, n, p and p2 are all vectors containing the variables in the volumes. vd is the dielectric
barrier voltage. ns and ps are the surface charge densities. u(t) is the input waveform to
the DBD lamp. If a current waveform is injected as the input u(t) then the model states
are exactly as in equation 2.53. On the other hand, if a voltage waveform is taken as the
input u(t) then the lamp total current is added to the states of the system by adding the
external circuit ODE as equation 2.49 to the system equations. The output y(t) is the
total voltage across the lamp vDBD given by equation 2.50. C is the appropriate vector
to obtain vDBD as the sum of all volume voltages vi and the voltage across the dielectric
barrier vd as given by equation 2.50.
2.6.1 Equivalent circuit of the continuity equation

The continuity equation of each charged particle given by equation 2.31 can be modeled
using an analogous electrical circuit. This ODE describes the temporal evolution of the
density mi in a control volume V oli . It can be viewed as the KCL equation at a certain
node in an electrical circuit. The term on the LHS represents the current in a capacitor
with a capacitance of hi . The source term hi Smi represents a dependent current source
connected to this node. This source is controlled by the particle densities and the average
electric field Ei in V oli given by:
vi
Ei = (2.54)
hi
The fluxes Γi+1/2 and Γi−1/2 are equivalent to dependent current sources that con-
nect two adjacent nodes. Each flux consists of a diffusion component and a convection
component. Using the central differencing scheme in equation 2.26, the diffusive flux can
represented by a nonlinear resistance connected between two adjacent nodes. The elec-
tric field Ei+1/2 at the boundary, given by equation 2.40, controls the diffusion coefficient
Dm and therefore the electric field controls the value of this resistance. The resistance
between the nodes i and i + 1 is given by:
di+1
RDmi+1/2 = (2.55)
Dm (Ei+1/2 )
The convective component of the flux Γconv(i+1/2) can be modeled as a dependent

current source where its value is equal to the product of the density mi+1/2 (obtained
from the Quick scheme), the electric field Ei+1/2 and the mobility μm (Ei+1/2 ) all at the
boundary of the control volume as given in equation 2.25. The mobility is a function
of the electric field at the boundary. The cell volume equivalent circuit for one of the
particles continuity equations is shown in figure 2.10.
īconv(i-½) īconv(i+½)
īm(i+½)
di-1 di+1
Di-1/2 Di+1/2
mi-1 hi Smi hi mi mi+1
hi-1 Sm(i-1) hi-1 hi+1 Sm(i+1) hi+1
Volume i
Figure 2.10: Continuity Equation Equivalent circuit
At the boundaries of the plasma (Dielectric surfaces) the boundary conditions de-
scribed by equations 2.11 to 2.13 are modeled in the circuit as dependent current sources.
Figure 2.11 shows an example circuit where four volumes are used to discretize the con-
tinuity equation of particle m. The boundary sources ΓB1 and ΓB2 are controlled by the
īm(1+½) īm(2+½) īm(3+½)
m1 m2 m3 m4
īB1 īB2
Volume 1 Volume 2 Volume 3 Volume 4
Boundary Boundary
x=B1 x=B2
Figure 2.11: An example for the continuity equation equivalent circuit using 4 volumes
surface charge densities ns and ps . Each of these surface charge densities is also modeled
by an electrical circuit consisting of a capacitor of unity capacitance which is fed by a
dependent current source. The surface charge density is the voltage across the capacitor.
The dependent current sources have the governing equations described by equations 2.14
and 2.15.
2.6.2 Equivalent circuit of Poisson’s equation

Based on the current continuity, the current at the boundary of each control volume
consists of two components: displacement current and conduction current. Therefore
equation 2.48 can be used to obtain an equivalent circuit that describes the voltage
across each volume. This circuit can be repeated for each volume and each circuit should
be connected in series with the previous one to establish the electrical circuit that can
be connected to the rest of the electrical system like the lamp driver. The conduction
current at boundary i + 1/2 is given by the flux equations described by equation 2.25.
This is shown again in the following equation:
ici+1/2 = qA(Γpi+1/2 + Γp2i+1/2 − Γni+1/2 ) = idif fi+1/2 + iconvi+1/2 (2.56)
pi+1 − pi p2 − p2i ni+1 − ni

idif fi+1/2 = qA(−Dpi+1/2 − Dp2i+1/2 i+1 + Dni+1/2 ) (2.57)
di+1 di+1 di+1
iconvi+1/2 = qA(pi+1/2 μpi+1/2 + p2i+1/2 μp2i+1/2 − ni+1/2 μni+1/2 )Ei+1/2 (2.58)
Since the electric field at the volume boundaries is given by equation 2.40, the ODE
describing the voltage across the volume can be written as:
dvi A 1 Aqhi
Ci = −iDBD + idif fi − σi vi + (σi+1/2 − σi−1/2 ) (pi + p2i − ni ) (2.59)
dt hi 2 2o
1
idif fi = (idif fi+1/2 + idif fi−1/2 ) (2.60)
2
1
σi = (σi+1/2 + σi−1/2 ) (2.61)
2
σi+1/2 = q(pi+1/2 μpi+1/2 + p2i+1/2 μp2i+1/2 − ni+1/2 μni+1/2 ) (2.62)
Based on equations 2.59 to 2.62, the Poisson’s equation equivalent circuit shown in figure
2.12 can be derived which is based on KCL.
where
1 Aqhi
ispci = (σi+1/2 − σi−1/2 ) (pi + p2i − ni ) (2.63)
2 2o
hi
Ri = (2.64)
σi (ni , pi , p2i , vi )A
2.7 Optical Model

The optical model consists of the ODE’s describing the excited neutral particles’ densities
as given by equation 2.19. The source terms include the different reactions described in
idiffi
ispci
iDBD
Ri
vi
Ci
Figure 2.12: Equivalent Circuit of Poisson’s equation
chapter 1 for Xe gas. Since these equations are just a special case of the continuity
equation then the same procedure described in subsection 2.5.1 can be applied to these
equations. However, since there is no flux component in the neutral particles’ equations,
the control volume used to implement the FVM can be taken as the full volume of the
considered gas. This reduces the system greatly to just six ODE’s corresponding to
the six different particles mentioned in subsection 2.4.2. This is given by the following
equations:
For the excited Xenon particles nexc the ODE is given by:
dnexc
= fexc (E)n + βnp2 − ((K1 + K2 )No + K17 + K18 )nexc (2.65)
dt
The profile used for the different neutral particles’ densities is a stepwise profile.
Integrating equation 2.65 above over the whole volume of the plasma gives the following
equation for the 1-D model:
dnexcavg
= (fexc (E)n)avg + β(np2 )avg − ((K1 + K2 )No + K17 + K18 )nexcavg (2.66)
dt
The term (fexc (E)n)avg and (np2 )avg are obtained from the results of the electrical sub-
system by averaging as follows:
xB2
1
(fexc (E)n)avg = fexc (E)ndx (2.67)
Lg xB1
where Lg = xB1 − xB2

This integral is obtained using numerical integration based on the node values ob-
tained from the electrical subsystem. The following equations are obtained by applying
the same procedure for the rest of the excited neutral particles:
dnmetavg
= (fmet (E)n)avg −(αstep (E)n)avg nmetavg +K2 No nexcavg +K3 No nresavg +K18 nexcavg
dt
−(K4 No + K6 No2 + K9 nmetavg + K10 nresavg )nmetavg (2.68)
dnresavg
= (fres (E)n)avg +K1 No nexcavg +K4 No nmetavg +K17 nexcavg −(K3 No +K5 No2 +K8 nresavg
dt
+K10 nmetavg + K16 )nresavg (2.69)
dnexci0uavg
= K5 No2 nresavg − (K7 No + K15 )nexci0uavg (2.70)
dt
dnexci1savg
= K7 No nexci0uavg − K13 nexci1savg (2.71)
dt
dnexci3savg
= K6 No2 nmetavg − K14 nexci3savg (2.72)
dt
Finally the optical output energy per cycle at the wavelength of 172nm can be obtained
as follows:
ALhc T
Wout = (K13 nexci1savg + K14 nexci3savg )ds (2.73)
λ172nm t−T
The reason for using the averaging over the whole solution volume instead of using
a fine mesh is that it is only required to obtain an indicator for the optical output as a
post processing step. Therefore it is not essential to calculate this optical output with
high accuracy.
2.8 Normalized DBD Model

The ODE system that describes the electrical subsystem contains the voltages across
each volume and the densities of the charged particles. Since the voltages are in the
range of kilovolts while the densities are of the order of 1017 , it is better to normalize
the equations of the system. This normalization results in a reduction of the simulation
time; nearly half of the time required before normalization.
The normalization is done by selecting base values for the different variables in the
problem. In this case there are the voltages, electric fields, currents, particles’ densities
and particles’ fluxes. The independent base values are chosen to be the voltages and the
densities. Since the rest of the variables depend on the voltages and the densities, their
base values are calculated from the base values of the voltages and densities.
Let the base values for the voltages and densities be Vb and Nb respectively. The
equation that describes the electric field at the boundary i + 1/2 is given by equation
2.40. This equation can be written as:
vî qNb hi
Ei+1/2 = Vb − (p̂i + pˆ2i − n̂i ) (2.74)
hi 2o
Dividing equation 2.74 by Vb results in:
v̂i q̂hi
Êi+1/2 = − (p̂i + pˆ2i − n̂i ) (2.75)
hi 2
where
qNb
q̂ = (2.76)
o Vb
is the normalized charge. The ODE that describes the particle density in each volume
can be normalized by dividing it by the base value for the densities Nb . The normalized
ODE is given by:
dm̂i 1 ˆ − Γi−1/2
ˆ ) = Sˆm
+ (Γi+1/2 i
(2.77)
dt hi
ˆ = − Di+1/2 (mî+1 − m̂i ) + mi+1/2

Γi+1/2 ˆ
ˆ Ei+1/2
ˆ μi+1/2 (2.78)
di+1
μi+1/2
ˆ = μi+1/2 Vb (2.79)
Where μ̂ is the normalized mobility coefficient. The normalized source term Sˆmi is
obtained by dividing the actual source term by the base value for the density Nb . The
terms of equation 2.77 have units of sec−1 . Finally, the ODE, equation 2.48, describing
the voltage across each volume can be divided by Ib = o Vb to give:
dv̂i ˆ + 1 (icond(i+1/2)
Ĉi = −iDBD ˆ ˆ
+ icond(i−1/2) ) (2.80)
dt 2
where
A
Ĉi = (2.81)
hi
and
ˆ = iDBD
iDBD (2.82)
o Vb
2.9 Simulation Results

In this section, the results obtained from the FVM formulation for the electrical and
optical subsystem for two different types of current waveforms (pulsed and sinusoidal)
are given. The results are compared with the ones obtained using the Comsol FEM based
software package.
Firstly, the simulations are done with the pulsed current waveform shown in figure 2.2.
Secondly, a sinusoidal current waveform is used to excite the DBD lamp. The geometry
used during the simulations is the one given in figure 2.6. Silica glass (r = 4) is used as
the dielectric barriers material. The gas used is Xenon at a pressure of 53.3kP a.
2.9.1 Pulsed current waveform

The number of elements used in the FEM model is equal to 544 elements in the plasma
and this corresponds to a total number of variables of 4(2 × 544 + 1) = 4356 because a
second order polynomial is used as the basis functions in the FEM solver. This number of
elements is chosen since the solution becomes grid independent if the number of elements
exceeds 544. The current waveform shown in figure 2.2 has the following parameters:
Table 2.2: Pulsed Current Waveform Parameters
Parameter Value
Ipk 5A
P Wc 1μs
P Wv 1.2μs
DT 7.8μs
Fs 100kHz
An accurate electrical model for the lamp is essential for the design of the power
supply as it will impact the choice of the different device ratings. However, the number
of variables solved for should be as small as possible to avoid long simulation times during
the simulation of the overall system. For the geometry described above, 300 volumes,
corresponding to 4 × 300 = 1200 variables, were found to be the least number of volumes
that produced nearly the same accuracy as the FEM model.
The voltage waveform determined using the FVM, using 300 volumes in the plasma,
are compared to the waveform obtained from the FEM in figure 2.13. The maximum
difference between the voltage obtained by the FVM and the FEM is 2%of the peak
voltage. Figures 2.14 and 2.15 show the input and output energies per cycle obtained
from the FVM and FEM respectively. As seen in these figures, there is close agreement
between the results of the FVM and FEM methods.
V_{DBD} (10th cycle)}

8000
Comsol-D
FVM
7000
6000
5000
4000
(V)
DBD
3000
V
2000
1000
-1000
-2000
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 1.2
t(sec) x 10
-5
Figure 2.13: Comparison of the obtained DBD voltage from Comsol and FVM using a
pulsed waveform
The results shown in figures 2.13 to 2.15 show that the FVM produces accurate results
with approximately one third of the number of variables used in the FEM. This can be
considered as a kind of reduction in the model of the DBD lamp as this corresponds to
a smaller system matrix to work with during the numerical solution of the equations.
2.9.2 Sinusoidal current waveform

To show the applicability of the proposed FVM model for a wider range of waveforms,
a sinusoidal waveform is also used to energize the DBD model. In this simulation a
sinusoidal current with a peak current of 1 A and a frequency of 100 kHz is used. The
DBD terminal voltage obtained from both Comsol and FVM is shown in figure 2.16. The
input and output energies per cycle are shown in figures 2.17 and 2.18 respectively.
0.014
Comsol-D
FVM
0.0135
0.013
Input Energy per cycle (J/cycle)

0.0125
0.012
0.0115
0.011
0.0105
0.01
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Cycles
Figure 2.14: Comparison of the obtained input energy per cycle from Comsol and FVM
using a pulsed waveform (At some cycles only dots appear because the energy per cycle
from both systems coincide)
-3
x 10
11.5
Comsol-D
FVM
11
10.5
Output Energy per cycle (J/cycle)
10
9.5
8.5
7.5
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Cycles
Figure 2.15: Comparison of the obtained output energy per cycle from Comsol and FVM
using a pulsed waveform (At some cycles only dots appear because the energy per cycle
from both systems coincide)
V (10th cycle)
DBD
7000
Comsol-D
FVM
6000
5000
4000
3000
(V)
DBD
V
2000
1000
-1000
-2000
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 1.2
t(sec) x 10
-5
Figure 2.16: Comparison of the obtained DBD voltage from Comsol and FVM using a
sinusoidal waveform
0.013
Comsol-D
FVM
0.012
Input Energy per cycle (J/cycle)
0.011
0.01
0.009
0.008
0.007
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Cycles
Figure 2.17: Comparison of the obtained input energy per cycle from Comsol and FVM
using a sinusoidal waveform (At some cycles only dots appear because the energy per
cycle from both systems coincide)
-3
x 10
6
Comsol-D
FVM
5.5
Output Energy per cycle (J/cycle)

4.5
3.5
2.5
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Cycles
Figure 2.18: Comparison of the obtained output energy per cycle from Comsol and FVM
using a sinusoidal waveform (At some cycles only dots appear because the energy per
cycle from both systems coincide)
2.10 Effect of number of volumes on the solution
In this section, the number of volumes used in the FVM model is decreased to investigate
the possibility to obtain an even smaller system with an acceptable accuracy. The electri-
cal subsystem is essential in the design process of the power electronics driver. Therefore
the main focus in this section is to reduce the number of volumes in solving the electrical
subsystem and yet produce waveforms which are similar to the ones produced by using
300 volumes. The measure for the similarity is taken to be the input energy per cycle.
Since the input energy per cycle is the integral of the product of the voltage and current,
it gives an indication of how close the voltage waveform (in the case of current injection)
produced by the model as compared to the voltage waveform produced when using 300
volumes. A uniform mesh is used in this section as compared to the previous section
where a non-uniform mesh was used.
It can be seen from figure 2.19 that the accuracy degrades as the number of volumes
is decreased to a minimum at 30 volumes but then it starts to increase again until
convergence problems occur at 10 volumes. Because of this behavior, ways for solving
the convergence problem should be invistigated to determine the quality of the solution
-3
x 10
7.5
6.5
E (J/cycle)
5.5
in
4.5
3.5
0 50 100 150 200 250 300
Number of Volumes
Figure 2.19: Effect of number of volumes on the input energy
for a number of volumes less than 10 volumes.

The reason for the divergence, as seen from the simulations, was due to the diffusion
of electrons from the bulk volume to the dielectric barrier surface on the cathode side and
causing very steep increase in the negative surface charge density. This is not monitored
in the solution using a fine mesh near the barriers where the electron diffusive flux is very
small compared to the ion diffusive flux directed toward the cathode as shown in figure
2.20. A positive charge should be accumulating at the cathode to cause the extinguishing
of the discharge.
Under coarse mesh, the electron density in the second volume (Volume 2 in figure
2.21) is much higher than in volume 1 because volume 2 covers the region where the
ionization takes place. Therefore, there is nearly a step change in the electron density
between the first two volumes closest to the cathode. This step change causes the electron
diffusive flux between these two volumes toward the cathode to be very high. Near the
cathode the electrons should be mainly moving toward the anode due to the total electric
field which is directed from the anode to the cathode. This high diffusion of the electrons
causes the electrons to over accumulate on the cathode dielectric barrier which does not
occur when using the fine mesh in the solution.
22
10
Electron Diffusive Flux
Ion Diffusive Flux
20
10
18
10
16
10
1/m^{2}/sec
14
10
12
10
10
10
8
10
6
10
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 1.2
Time -6
x10
Figure 2.20: Diffusive flux of both electrons and ions at the cathode obtained from Comsol
solution
16
x 10
20
18
16
Volume 2
14
12
Ne(m-3)
10
6
Volume 1
4
2
300 Vol
8 Vol
0
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
x(m) x 10
-4
Figure 2.21: Comparison of the electron density distribution obtained using 300 volumes
(shown in dashed red) and using only 8 volumes (shown in solid black)
To overcome this convergence problem, the diffusion flux of electrons was set to zero
only between the first two volumes closest to the dielectric barriers on each side of the
DBD cell. On the other hand, the error produced by this approach is in neglecting the
electron diffusion flux at the anode and only relying on the convective flux as the means
for electron transport between the first two volumes. However, to minimize the effect of
this modification on the rest of the solution, the first volume is taken to be very small.
It was chosen to be equal to 5μm as this is the value of the first volume when the fine
mesh with 300 volumes is used. Figure 2.22 shows the input energy per cycle obtained
using number of volumes which is less than 10 volumes at which the divergence occured.
It is shown that the input energy continued to increase back to the value obtained using
the fine mesh with 300 volumes.
-3
x 10
7
6.5
5.5
E (J/cycle)
in
4.5
3.5
5 10 15 20 25 30
Number of Volumes
Figure 2.22: Zoomed view of figure 2.19
Figures 2.23 to 2.25 show the waveforms obtained with 6 and 8 volumes compared
to the ones obtained with the 300 volumes for three different cases. In case 1, the input
current waveform has the following parameters Ipk = 3.6A and P Wc = 1μs. The current
pulse width is changed to 3μs in case 2 while the peak current is increased to 5A in case
3.
The optical output is greatly affected by the number of volumes. The optical output
V (10th cycle)
DBD
7000
300 Vol
6 Vol Mod
6000 8 Vol Mod
5000
4000
(V) 3000
DBD
2000
V
1000
-1000
-2000
-3000
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 1.2
t(sec) x 10
-5
Figure 2.23: Case 1:Voltage waveform using 6 and 8 volumes compared to the waveform
obtained using 300 volumes under Ipk = 3.6A and P Wc = 1μs
VDBD (6th cycle)

10000
300 Vol
6 Vol Mod
8 Vol Mod
8000
6000
VDBD (V)
4000
2000
-2000
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 1.2
t(sec) x 10
-5
obtained using 300 volumes under Ipk = 3.6A and P Wc = 3μs
th
V (10 cycle)
DBD
10000
300 Vol
6 Vol Mod
8 Vol Mod
8000
6000
4000
VDBD (V)
2000
-2000
-4000
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 1.2
t(sec) x 10
-5
obtained using 300 volumes under Ipk = 5A and P Wc = 1μs
obtained using the 6 or 8 volumes is higher than the input energy. This is of course not
physical and is due to the coarse mesh used. And may also be related to neglecting the
diffusion flux of the electrons at the anode as this will cause accumulation of the electrons
in the plasma.
The different behavior between the electrical and optical subsystem can be explained
as follows. Due to the averaging that takes place through the use of a very low number of
volumes, the densities of the electrons and ions on which the optical subsystem is based
are not accurate enough. On the other hand, the electrical subsystem deals with the net
volume charge and it seems that this does not affect the performance of the electrical
subsystem in terms of the voltage and input energy to the system. The reason for the
increased accuracy with the low number of volumes may be attributed to cancellation
of some of the different errors produced by the approximations used in deriving the
equations.
2.11 Model Order Reduction Techniques

The objective of this thesis is to develop a circuit based model of the DBD lamp. The
developed FVM based circuit model in section 2.6 can still be time consuming and there-
fore it would be advantageous to reduce the FVM model order as much as possible.
Different model order reduction techniques have been suggested in the literature to re-
duce the number of ODE’s describing a certain device while maintaining a certain degree
of accuracy. The model order reduction technique can be used internally in the circuit
simulation software to convert the FVM based equivalent circuits to the reduced model.
After solving the reduced model the results can be converted back to the states of the
equivalent circuits. One of the advantages of using the FVM over the FEM in developing
the DBD model is that it offers a lower number of ODE’s to start with before proceeding
with the model order reduction process. This would make the computation of the re-
duced model faster and easier since these procedures depend on dealing with the system
state variables as described below.
2.11.1 Classification of different techniques

In this section the classification of these model order reduction techniques is described and
some details are mentioned especially about the techniques used for nonlinear systems.
The model order reduction techniques can be classified based on their applicability for
linear or nonlinear systems as shown in table 2.3 [41]. The SVD techniques are based on
Table 2.3: MOR Techniques
Nonlinear systems Linear systems

SVD based techniques SVD based techniques
POD methods Balanced truncation
Empirical grammians Krylov based techniques
Lanczos
Arnoldi
the Singular Value Decomposition (SVD) theorem which reflects the fact that a matrix
of rank n can be approximated using SVD to a rank k- matrix (k < n) and the error in
this approximation is less than a specified value (which is the next higher singular value
σk+1 ) [42].
The Krylov based techniques obtain a projection of the original full order system onto
a subspace and therefore reducing the order of the ODE system. In these techniques,
the Krylov subspace is the one used. The special property of the Krylov subspaces is
that the output of the reduced model matches the output of the original system in terms
of moments. The moments of the system are related to the terms of the Taylor series
of the system’s transfer function. The Lanczos and Arnoldi techniques are two different
algorithms to find the Krylov subspace of the considered system. These methods however
are only useful for linear systems. Their drawbacks are that the resulting reduced order
systems have no guaranteed error bound and stability is not necessarily preserved [41]
, [42].
2.11.2 Singular Value Decomposition based Techniques

In this section, more details will be given about the SVD based techniques. The first of
these is the Proper Orthogonal Decomposition (POD) technique which is also known as
the Karhunen-Loeve method. This technique has been used in a number of papers (two
examples are in references [43] and [44] ) to reduce the order of nonlinear systems. The
second technique which is called empirical grammians is an extension to the balanced
truncation technique used for linear systems [41] and [45].
To describe the main idea behind these techniques, consider the following nonlinear
ODE system resulting from the discretization of the original nonlinear PDE:
ṁ(t) = f (m(t), u(t)) (2.83)

y(t) = h(m(t), u(t)) (2.84)
where u(t) is the input to the system, y(t) the output and m(t) is the system states
vector.
2.11.3 POD Technique

1. For a certain input u(t), the state trajectory at certain instances of time m(ti )
(called snapshot) is obtained by solving the full order system 2.84. These snapshots
are collected in one matrix M given by
M = [m(t1 ), m(t2 ), ........, m(tm )] (2.85)

2. The SVD of the matrix M is performed. If the singular values of this matrix M
fall off rapidly, a low order approximation of this system can be computed. The
SVD will result in the following decomposition
M = UΣV T ≈ UkΣkVkT (2.86)
k corresponds to the order of the smallest singular value that will be included in the
approximation process. The singular values σi ’s (diagonal elements of the matrix
Σk ) are ordered in a decreasing manner. The error in the approximation of 2.86 is
just σk+1 in terms of the 2-norm distance [42].
3. To obtain the reduced order model, there are two methods:
• Direct projection [42] using the matrix Uk as the transformation matrix, there-
fore the reduced system is given by
m(t) = Uk η(t) (2.87)

η̇(t) = UkT f (Uk η(t), u(t)) (2.88)
y(t) = h(Uk η(t), u(t)) (2.89)
• In [43] and [44] , Galerkin’s method of weighted residuals is used to produce

the reduced order model. This is done by dealing with the original PDE
and approximating its solution m(x, t) as a series expansion of time varying
coefficients ai (t) and spatially varying basis functions αi (x).

k
m(x, t) = αi (x)ai (t) (2.90)
i=1
The basis functions αi (x) used in Galerkin’s method are chosen to be the vectors
of the matrix Uk . These vectors correspond to the values of the basis functions at the
different nodes of the mesh used to solve the system to obtain the ODE system 2.84.
Using Galerkin’s method, the original PDE can be reduced to a system of coupled ODE’s
(where the variables are the functions ai (t)) in terms of the basis functions.
In Galerkin’s method, the boundary conditions of the original PDE have to be ex-
pressed in terms of the new variables ai (t) which might not be a straight forward proce-
dure. This problem is not faced in the direct projection method. However in the direct
projection method, obtaining the reduced order model as in equation 2.89 might not be
an easy task because the method deals with the huge nonlinear function vector f arising
from the discretization of the original PDE.
The advantage of the POD technique is that it can be applied to high-complexity
linear as well as nonlinear systems. The disadvantage of the POD technique is that the
resulting reduced system depends on the input signal used to find the snapshot matrix
M and also it depends on the time instances at which the snapshots are taken.
2.11.4 Empirical Grammians

This technique is an extension to the balanced truncation method used for reduction
of linear systems. The balanced truncation method depends on the controllability and
observability of the system to determine the internal subsystems that have a weak effect
on the input-output behaviour of the system and are almost non-observable or non-
controllable or both. Based on this, the minimum reduced subspace can be determined.
Controllability and observability grammians are constructed in order to find this mini-
mum subspace. These grammians are constructed from the system matrices A, B and C
in the case of the linear systems.
In [45] , the same concept was extended to nonlinear systems with the exception
that new empirical grammians are defined where these grammians are dependent on the
system impulse response. The empirical grammians give a precise method for deciding
upon the importance of a particular subspace of the state space. By projecting the
original system onto this subspace a reduced order nonlinear system can be obtained.
The advantage of the empirical grammians technique is that it does not depend on
a special class of inputs to the system to perform the order reduction which makes the
obtained reduced model more general as compared to the POD technique. However, the
main disadvantage of the empirical grammians technique is its complicated implementa-
tion.
2.11.5 Results of the model reduction using POD

The POD technique has been implemented using the direct projection approach in MAT-
LAB. The program takes the results obtained from the FVM model and performs the
reduction algorithm. The program output is the transformation matrix used to convert
the actual states of the original system into the reduced states. As proof of concept, the
results of two different cases are shown in figures 2.26 and 2.27. The figures show the
waveform obtained from the FVM model using the specified number of volumes and the
waveform obtained from solving the reduced order model. In figure 2.26, the solution
obtained by the FVM model with 100 volumes corresponding to 400 variables (there
are four equations being solved) is nearly matched with the solution using a reduced
order model of only 200 variables. When more volumes are used in the FVM model
to achieve higher accuracy, the solution obtained using the reduced order model starts
to deviate from the FVM solution. This deviation is probably due to insufficient data
points obtained from the FVM solution. The number of data points was limited due
to the memory problems with MATLAB in executing the singular value decomposition
process.
6000
POD 200 Variables
FVM 100 Volumes
5000
4000
3000
VDBD (V)
2000
1000
-1000
1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 1.9 2
t(sec) x 10
-5
Figure 2.26: Comparison between FVM and POD case 1: 400 variables based FVM
solution is reduced to a 200 variable solution
2.12 Summary
The different DBD circuit models proposed in the literature have been briefly reviewed
in this chapter. More details about the models are given in appendix C. All of the
proposed circuit models require curve fitting based on experimental waveforms to obtain
the different parameters of the model. These models are not helpful in the process of
7000
6000 FV 200 Volumes

POD 400 Variables
5000
4000
3000
VDBD (V)
2000
1000
-1000
-2000
1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 1.9 2
t(sec) -5
x 10
Figure 2.27: Comparison between FVM and POD case 2: 800 variables based FVM
solution is reduced to a 400 variable solution
driver design since the parameters of these models depend on the coupling between the
driver and the DBD lamp. Therefore, in this work a DBD circuit model which depends
on the actual equations that describe the physics of the DBD was derived. The developed
model is a general one that only needs the geometry of the lamp, the material data of
the dielectric barrier, the gas used and its pressure.
The PDE system describing the DBD lamp was converted into two subsystems. The
first subsystem (electrical subsystem) contains Poissons’ equations and the charged par-
ticles continuity equations and therefore is responsible for the electrical characteristics of
the lamp when connected to the driver circuit. The second subsystem (optical subsys-
tem) describes the excited neutral particles and is responsible for producing an estimate
for the optical output of the DBD lamp. There is a one way coupling between the two
subsystems as the densities of the charged particles and electric field are fed to the optical
subsystem to obtain the optical output.
The FVM was used in discretizing the set of PDE to obtain a circuit model that
describes a unit volume in the plasma of the DBD. The derivation of the equations
depends on the QUICK method for dealing with the drift term of the particles’ flux in
the continuity equations. The diffusion term uses the central differencing to obtain the
spatial derivative. For Poisson’s equation, an analytical solution was derived for the 1-D
case and with the assumption that the volume charge density is constant within each
volume.
Using the set of ODEs describing the electrical subsystem, an equivalent circuit for
each volume was derived. This equivalent circuit consists of a number of coupled circuits.
The first circuit describes Poisson’s equation and it would be the interface to the external
electrical circuit. The rest of the coupled circuits describe the charged particles continuity
equations. The number of these continuity equation circuits is equal to the number of
charged particles included in the kinetic model of the gas.
The FVM based model system was normalized as described in section 2.8 to avoid
the large difference in magnitude between the different variables. As a consequence the
simulation time was reduced to half after the normalization process. It was found that
the number of volumes required to produce a similar accuracy as produced by the FEM
for the electrical subsystem was less and that the number of variables used in FVM was
nearly one fifth of the number of variables needed in the FEM.
In order to achieve the smallest possible system with an acceptable accuracy, the
number of volumes used in the solution was reduced. The degree of accuracy was taken
to be the input energy per cycle to the DBD lamp. It was noticed that with reducing
the number of volumes, the input energy obtained departed from its converged value but
then started to increase again before divergence occured as shown in figure 2.19. The
divergence problem was solved by neglecting the electrons diffusive flux at the boundary
between the first two volumes closest to the dielectric barriers and the number of vol-
umes was reduced even further. The input energy kept increasing until it exceeded the
converged value. Therefore, it can be stated that a solution with a reasonable degree of
accuracy can be obtained as shown in section 2.10 when using the FVM with a small
number of volumes.
Finally, the nonlinear model order reduction techniques have been reviewed briefly.
One of these methods, which is the Proper Orthogonal Decomposition (POD), was im-
plemented on the FVM based DBD model. The results obtained show good agreement
and it was possible to reduce the system by nearly one half in terms of the number of
variables solved for.
Chapter 3
Effect of Electrical Waveform on

DBD Performance
3.1 Introduction
The properties of the DBD excimer lamp vary widely depending on the operating condi-
tions. These properties include the discharge form, UV output power and UV spectrum.
Another important property is the electrical to optical efficiency, which is very essential
for the industrial use of such lamps. The operating conditions affecting the lamp are
mainly:
• Gas type and pressure P
• Gap length d
• Dielectric barrier material and dimension
• Electrical supply waveform
The gas composition determines the UV spectrum. The discharge in each gas will
produce certain wavelengths. For example, xenon emits radiation in the UV range be-
tween 145nm and 180nm. Besides the UV emission, there will also be emission in the
infrared (IR) range at approximately 830nm. The UV radiation is due to the dissociation
of the excimer species while the IR is due to the Xenon atomic transition from higher
excited states to the metastable state [46] .
The IR emission is used as an indicator for the electron mean energy in the discharge.
Since the IR radiation is due to the higher excited Xenon atoms, its intensity will be
66
Chapter 3. Effect of Electrical Waveform on DBD Performance 67
higher as the electron energy increases. The IR radiation in the case of the UV excimer
lamp is considered to be a loss because for excimer formation only the low-level excited
metastable state is involved. Refer to Appendix A for more details.
Highly-excited xenon atoms must undergo first the radiative transition to metastable
states, that is, they must emit IR radiation. This is an energy loss due to over-excitation.
On the contrary, if xenon atoms are only excited to metastable states, the energy loss
due to IR radiation can be avoided [47] .
The wavelength with the highest intensity depends greatly on the pressure of the
gas. The experiments in [6] show that xenon has two separate continua which could
be observed; one at λ = 152nm and the second at λ = 172nm. At low pressures,
only the first continuum is detectable, the intensity of which decreases with increasing
pressure; simultaneously the intensity of the second continuum increases. In the pressure
region above 250T orr, only the second continuum is visible. This pressure effect can be
explained as follows: the UV emission at the different wavelengths is the result of excited
species dissociation. Depending on the pressure, some chemical reaction paths are more
favorable or probable to happen in the gas. Therefore, the UV emission spectrum depends
on the operating pressure. Refer to Appendix A for details.
Gas pressure also plays a role in determining the temporal evolution of the UV radia-
tion from the lamp. Increasing the pressure decreases the UV pulse width and increases
its rise time. For P = 1.5bar the UV pulse width is less than 200ns and slowly decreases
at higher pressures. This can be explained using the same reason as above namely that
high pressures favor the production of excimers.
Higher pressures are favored for the excimer production due to the increased conver-
sion rate of metastable atoms by collisions with ground-state Xe atoms in comparison
with their loss by spontaneous radiative decay. On the other hand as the pressure in-
creases, the electron density in the discharge will also increase. This will enhance the
loss of metastable atoms by further upward excitation by electron collisions. Figure 3.1
shows the effect of pressure on the temporal evolution of a UV pulse under the same
operating conditions [48] .
Both the pressure and gap length determine the breakdown voltage of the gas, and also
the form of the discharge. Under sinusoidal excitation conditions and a low P d product,
the discharge appears to be in a more diffuse homogenous form. In this case, the plasma
covers the whole barrier surface and the whole discharge volume is glowing [49]. As the
P d product increases, the discharge starts to be in the form of stochastically distributed
Figure 3.1: Temporal evolution of UV pulse at different pressures [47]
filaments or micro-discharges over the area of the barrier. The discharge under even
higher P d values appears in the form of a very few number of filaments which occur
nearly at fixed spots on the dielectric barrier surface [50]. The slower rate of rise of
voltage under sinusoidal excitation permits perturbations in the spatial distribution of
electrons to evolve into filamentary discharges which collapse the electric field before it
has increased to the necessary value needed for generating a homogenous discharge.
Dielectric material and dimension determine the capacitance of the barriers. This
capacitance also affects the peak UV output power. As the capacitance of the barriers
increases, the voltage applied across the discharge gap for a specified applied voltage
across the whole cell is higher. Thus using material with higher relative permittivity or
reducing the thickness of the barrier should produce higher UV peak powers.
In order to enhance the efficiency of the DBD, the energy of the electrons has to be
controlled to avoid excitation of xenon atoms to higher states. As stated before, UV
radiation is due to the dissociation of the excimer molecules. Therefore to increase the
efficiency of the UV radiation production, it is essential to maintain the energy of the
electrons in the optimum range to generate the excimer states. Low level of electron
energy will decrease the excitation to higher states which are not conducive to forming
the excimer. Usually these higher states tend to dissociate to other species by emitting
some radiation mostly in the IR range. This radiation is considered to be a loss in the case
of UV radiation production. Therefore, the energy of the electrons has to be controlled to

lie always in the optimum range required for the excimer formation. In [51] , it is stated,
that the optimum range for the mean electron energy is 4 − 5eV . The mean electron
energy can be controlled based on the electric field in the gap. Since the field depends
on the excitation waveform, the supply waveform controls the mean electron energy in
the plasma.
From the above discussion, some conditions can be stated regarding the optimization
of the UV radiation production process:
1. The electron density has to be as small as possible to avoid excitation of the

metastable atoms to higher states.
2. The mean electron energy has to be as close as possible to the optimum range
during the whole process of the discharge not only temporally but also spatially to
ensure that the excimer production process is as efficient as possible.
3. The discharge has to develop very fast and homogenously in the discharge gap in
order to have a diffuse form which is preferred for higher efficiencies.
3.2 Electrical Excitation Waveforms

The emphasis will be placed on imposing the electrical supply waveform as the control
variable in order to reach the highest possible electrical to UV efficiency. DBD excimer
lamps have been usually excited using sinusoidal voltage waveforms in the frequency range
of 50Hz − 100kHz. The peak voltage is determined based on the operating pressure and
gap width to achieve the breakdown in the gas. However as will be shown, a sinusoidal
waveform is not optimal.
DBD lamps are operated near atmospheric pressure to reach a high UV output.
Under high pressure and sinusoidal excitation conditions, the discharge typically consists
of multiple filamentary micro-discharges. The electrical to UV conversion efficiency under
these conditions has been estimated to be less than or equal to 20% for Xe and 15% for
KrCl and less than 12% for XeCl [28]. Recently it has been shown that the DBD lamp
operating under pulsed excitation conditions will result in higher optical efficiencies [27].
Using high frequency excitation pulses which are interrupted by idle times, it has been
possible to increase the efficiencies to about 60% for Xe [29].
3.2.1 Sinusoidal versus Pulsed Excitation
Under sinusoidal excitation conditions, the discharge consists of multiple filaments that
appear stochastically across the dielectric’s surface area. The discharge current under si-
nusoidal excitation conditions flows in narrow filaments (area ≤ 2 × 10−3 cm2 ) which have
electron densities several orders of magnitude higher than that of the diffuse pulsed dis-
charge (area 4cm2 ). The higher electron density increases the quench rate of metastable
atoms by electron impact excitation to higher lying levels when sinusoidal excitation is
used. The discharge under pulsed excitation conditions was observed to occur in a diffuse
and homogeneous form [52].
The enhanced performance under conditions of pulsed excitation results largely from
the ability for pulsed excitation to generate a diffuse discharge at near atmospheric pres-
sures. This means that the discharge is achieved with a much lower electron density
than is possible using sinusoidal excitation. A pulsed discharge is capable of generating
a diffuse discharge at the higher pressures due to the effect of the fast rise-time of the
leading edge of the applied voltage. The fast application of the electric field within the
discharge gap increases the energy of the electrons simultaneously throughout the entire
active volume, allowing the breakdown to occur homogeneously [49].
However, high voltage rate of rise is not the only requirement for achieving the diffuse
discharge. To achieve the diffuse discharge it is essential to have enough seed electrons be-
fore and during the discharge [53]. The density of seed electrons depends on the gas type
and the operating pressure. Also, the presence of residual metastable atoms from previ-
ous discharges or gas additives would help to produce seed electrons in some gases [8].
Another factor that impacts the discharge appearance was found to be the derivative of
the effective ionization coefficient of the operating gas with respect to the electric field
at the moment of breakdown as this quantity would determine the radius of the pro-
duced streamer. The effective ionization coefficient is equal to the difference between the
ionization coefficient and the attachment coefficient in electronegative gases. A smaller
derivative would result in a more diffuse discharge [54] because a smaller derivative means
that even with a low electric field there will be some ionization which produces the re-
quired seed electrons before the breakdown occurs. Finally, the dielectric material used
may impact the discharge type too. Materials with the ability to accumulate more elec-
trons on their surface and releasing these electrons as soon as the external field changes
polarity. The released electrons will also act as seed electrons before the new breakdown
occurs [55].
Another major difference between the two types of excitation conditions is the oc-
currence of two separate discharges per voltage pulse for pulsed excitation compared to
only one per half cycle for a sinusoidal excitation. A primary discharge occurs at the
rising edge of the voltage pulse. A secondary discharge occurs at the falling edge of the
voltage pulse without drawing energy from the excitation source. It is noted in [47] that
the emission from the secondary discharge is more intensive than that from the primary
discharge. This is mainly due to the remaining free charges in the plasma after the pri-
mary discharge. As a consequence, the density of electrons available are higher during
the secondary discharge and therefore the excimer density will also be higher during the
secondary discharge. However, if the period between the primary and secondary dis-
charges is very long, the free charges produced in the primary discharge will recombine
before the initiation of the secondary one. Therefore, the secondary discharge will not
be stronger than the primary discharge. For a voltage driven lamp, the external circuit
injects energy only during the primary discharge. One part of this energy is consumed
directly by the primary discharge; the rest is stored by surface charges accumulated on
the dielectric. Therefore, the secondary discharge is also more efficient than the primary
discharge in converting electrical energy to VUV-radiation.
The secondary discharge is induced by the charges accumulated on the dielectric
surface during the primary discharge.The surface charge is totally or partially lost under
sinusoidal excitation conditions due to recombination between the volume charges and
the surface charges. As the frequency of the sinusoidal excitation increases, the effect
of the surface charges becomes obvious through the decrease of the breakdown voltage
(memory effect). However, the energy stored in the surface charge is not well utilized
under sinusoidal excitation conditions. As soon as the external field changes polarity, the
opposite charges will drift toward the barriers and some surface charges are lost due to
recombination.
Therefore, under pulsed excitation conditions, with idle periods between the pulses,
the capacitive energy stored due to the surface charges supplied during the primary
discharge promotes the development of the secondary discharge. This process ultimately
leads to an improved power transfer to the plasma and therefore a higher optical efficiency
[56].
Figures 3.2 and 3.3 show simulated voltage and current density waveforms for both
types of excitation. For the pulsed excitation, the occurrence of two discharges in each
VDBD
JDBDx100
Vplasma
Figure 3.2: The lamp voltage VDBD , plasma voltage Vplasma and lamp current density
JDBD under sinusoidal excitation
VDBD
Vplasma
JDBDx100
Figure 3.3: The lamp voltage VDBD , plasma voltage Vplasma and lamp current density
JDBD under pulsed excitation
half cycle can be explained by following the gap voltage Vplasma in figure 3.3. Vplasma
increases in proportion to the supply voltage VDBD until the primary discharge occurs.
Since the gap is transformed into a highly conductive channel, the voltage across the
discharge gap is gradually removed and reduced to almost zero. Therefore, the external
voltage is almost completely across the dielectric barriers.
Figure 3.3 shows that JDBD has a dip between the lower and higher peaks in a pulse.
This dip does not appear in Vplasma . The lower peak appears simply because of the
increase in Vplasma . During this interval the free electrons in the gap move toward the
anode and a cathode sheath is formed. This sheath only contains heavy ions and therefore
the conductivity of this sheath starts to decrease and therefore the dip in the current
appears. This also leads to a decrease in the electric field in the bulk. As soon as the
discharge commences in the gap, a rise in JDBD to the higher peak occurs.
When the external voltage falls rapidly at the end of the voltage pulse, Vplasma rises
simultaneously but with opposite polarity. This reversed voltage causes the secondary
discharge with opposite polarity. The secondary discharge is characterized by a higher
current peak compared to the primary discharge because of the remaining free charges in
the discharge gap shortly after the primary discharge. These free charges increases the
conductivity of the plasma during the secondary discharge.
In [48] it has been reported through experiments, that the pulsed excitation provides
higher efficiency compared to sinusoidal excitation when the pressure is changed as shown
in figures 3.4 and 3.5. In these two figures solid dots correspond to the pulsed excitation.
The input energy is nearly equal for both excitation types except at very high pressures
where the input energy under sinusoidal excitation condition is higher than under pulsed
excitation condition. The efficiency under pulsed excitation condition is always higher
than for the sinusoidal case for all pressures.
The efficiency under pulsed excitation condition increases with pressure due to the
diffuse discharge mode produced using the pulsed excitation even under higher pressures.
As described before, higher pressure is actually more favorable for producing the excimers
and therefore UV radiation. Under sinusoidal excitation condition, the discharge form
starts to be filamentary under higher pressure condition therefore the efficiency does not
increase and remains nearly constant.
Figure 3.4: Comparison between the input energy per cycle under pulsed excitation (solid
dots) and under sinusoidal excitation(hollow dots) at different pressures [48]
Figure 3.5: Comparison between the lamp efficiency under pulsed excitation (solid dots)
and under sinusoidal excitation(hollow dots) at different pressures [48]
3.2.2 Voltage versus Current Sources

Due to the capacitive nature of the DBD lamp, it is more natural to try to inject current
into the lamp as compared to imposing a certain voltage across its terminal. Imposing
a voltage across a capacitance will result in a current spike which is not controlled. The
spike also might damage the the power supply components used to drive the lamp.
Most of the power supplies suggested in the literature, as will be shown in chapter
4, are based on a voltage source drive rather than a current source one. It has been
mentioned also in [57] that there might be a direct relation between the injected current
waveform and the optical output temporal behavior. Therefore, in this work a current
source drive has been adopted to energize the DBD lamp. There are some advantages of
the current source drive compared to the voltage source one and these can be summarized
as follows:
1. Maximum current is chosen at the design stage for current source drive; suitable
devices can be chosen.
2. A current source waveform has more control variables as compared to the voltage
source waveform. This will be explained in the next section.
3. The UV output is related to the input current waveform since the current controls
the flow of the electrons which initialize the process of producing the excimers.
3.3 Pulsed Excitation Types

Different types of pulsed waveforms have been suggested in recent publications. They
are mainly characterized by:
1. High rise times in the range of 20 − 100nsec.
2. Short pulse widths in the range of 0.75 − 2μsec.
3. Pulses are separated by idle times in the range of 20 − 40μsec.
In [52], a dielectric barrier discharge is generated using square wave pulses. The
discharge was observed to occur in a diffuse and homogeneous form. There are two types
of square wave pulsed excitation that have been suggested in the literature. The first
type is termed unipolar excitation where the applied waveform takes on two levels of
voltage. The second type is termed bipolar excitation where the applied waveform takes
on three different voltage levels.
Figures 3.6(a) and 3.6(b) show the simulated waveforms of the voltage, current den-
sity and optical output power density under bipolar and unipolar excitation conditions
respectively. The peak of the optical output pulse under unipolar excitation conditions is
nearly constant. Under bipolar excitation conditions, the peak value of the optical out-
put toggles between a high value during the primary discharge and lower one during the
secondary discharge as shown in figure 3.7(a). The efficiency computed for the unipolar
excitation condition is slightly higher than the efficiency computed under bipolar excita-
tion conditions. Either unipolar or bipolar waveforms can be produced depending on the
power supply topology that is used. A converter coupled to a three winding transformer,
such as a push-pull converter or a full-bridge converter, is employed to produce a bipolar
waveform. Flyback, forward and half-bridge converters are used to produce unipolar
waveforms.

Weaker
Discharge
Vplasma
Vplasma
JDBD x100
JDBDx100

(a) Bipolar excitation waveform (b) Unipolar excitation waveform
Figure 3.6: Plasma voltage and current under pulsed excitation

Weaker
Discharge

(a) Bipolar excitation waveform (b) Unipolar excitation waveform
Figure 3.7: Optical output under pulsed excitation
An efficiency increase of 3.2× (compared to sinusoidal voltages), for short-pulse ex-

citation of a DBD Xe lamp, with marked improvements in the VUV peak power (6×)
and spectral purity of the VUV output is achieved by using an under damped sinusoidal
waveform as shown in figure 3.8 [51]. The under damped waveform is mainly due to
the lack of control over the interaction between the parasitics of the power source and
the DBD lamp which causes these oscillations. The secondary discharge in this type of
excitation is very weak. In square-wave excited DBDs, as shown in figure 3.6(b), the
secondary discharge current pulse becomes comparable in magnitude to the first current
pulse with similar energy deposition.
3 9 3 9
(a) model (b) model
experiment experiment
2 Vplas 6 2 6
st
1 Vapp
current
Current (A)
Current (A)
pulse
Volts (kV)
Volts (kV)
1 I ext 3 1 3
Iext
0 0 0 0
2nd
-1 current -3 -1 x20 Vapp -3
power x20 pulse
power
-2 -6 -2 -6
0 50 100 150 200 250 300 0 500 1000 1500 2000
time (ns) time (ns)
Figure 3.8: Quasi sinusoidal pulse excitation [50]
This can be explained as follows: for a square pulsed excitation the net field in the
gap is very small during the period with the flat voltage and therefore no significant
charge movements occur. Moreover, little recombination with the surface charges occurs
and the density of the surface charges remain nearly constant. This is why the secondary
discharge is higher compared to the quasi-sinusoidal excitation. In the quasi-sinusoidal
case, the external field starts to decrease as soon as it reaches its maximum. Therefore,
the net field in the gap reverses direction and charge recombination commences. However,
reigniting the discharge is not possible because the net field is smaller than the breakdown
field. Only near the zero of the applied voltage, when a large number of surface charges
have already been lost due to recombination, the net field is higher than the breakdown
field and re-ignition is possible.
3.4 Pulsed Excitation Waveform Parameters

The primary research effort regarding pulsed excitation of a DBD has been focused on
optimizing the parameters of the waveform to maximize the lamp efficiency. All of the
published papers have been dealing with voltage excitation waveforms. Since current
excitation has been adopted in this work, it is essential to examine the effect of the
different waveform parameters on the performance of the DBD including input energy
per cycle and lamp efficiency. The current waveform used is the one shown in chapter 2
and it is repeated again in figure 3.9 with all of the control parameters.
The full FVM model developed in chapter 2 is used to study the impact of the control
variables of the current waveform on the lamp input energy per cycle and efficiency. In
all of the simulation results shown below, the gas used is Xe at a pressure of 53.3kP a
and a gap distance of 4mm. In each set of simulations, only one parameter of the current
waveform is changed and all other parameters are held constant.
However, it should be noted that the efficiency obtained from these simulations will
be over estimating the efficiency that would be practically achieved from the DBD lamp.
The reason for this over estimation is because this study neglects two main factors that
will decrease the output energy and the lamp efficiency. These factors are:
• Only a 1-D model is used and therefore a perfectly diffuse discharge is assumed
which would not be fulfilled in the actual operation of the lamp.
• Some parasitic effects are not included in the model which will affect the lamp
efficiency. For example, the effect of the IR radiation on the discharge is not taken
into consideration. The IR radiation will increase the losses in the gas.
Ipk
2
iDBD(A)
0
PWc
DT
-2
PWv
-4
-6
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 1.2
t(sec) -5
x 10
Figure 3.9: DBD current waveform proposed in this work
3.4.1 Rate of Rise of Applied Voltage

Xe dielectric barrier discharges subjected to bipolar pulse voltages with trapezoidal and
sinusoidal waveforms were simulated using a self-consistent one-dimensional fluid model
in [58]. It was concluded that the primary factor influencing the DBD lamp’s UV output
power and efficiency is the rate of rise of the applied voltage. The authors of [59] show
that the rate of rise of the applied voltage has to be higher than 40kV /μs to achieve an
efficiency that exceeds 45%. The rate of rise of the DBD voltage is controlled by the
peak value of the current waveform.
Figures 3.10 and 3.11 show the effect of the peak current on the input energy per
cycle and efficiency of the DBD lamp at P Wc = 1.1μs, P Wv = 1.2μs and DT = 8μs.
Increasing the peak of the supplied current will increase the DBD voltage rate of rise
and therefore the discharge will occur at a higher voltage. This will increase the input
power to the lamp and will cause the discharge in occur in a more homogenous form. The
discharge occurs at higher breakdown voltage, because the electrons need to gain high
enough kinetic energy to start the ionization wave and since the electric field increases
rapidly in a short time the electrons will need a higher electric field to reach the required
kinetic energy. The lamp efficiency increases with the peak current until it reaches
saturation. This saturation might be explained as follows: Since the peak current is
increasing, the rate of rise increases but also the input power increases too. This will
cause more energy to be converted into motion of the heavy ions. This energy will not
get converted into UV output and therefore the efficiency starts to saturate and might
even start to decay.
0.014
0.012
0.01
0.008
Ein (J/cycle)
0.006
0.004
0.002
0
1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5 4 4.5 5 5.5 6
Ipk (A)
Figure 3.10: Effect of peak current on input energy per cycle
3.4.2 Current Pulse Width
The current waveform used in this work has an additional control variable as compared
to the usual voltage waveforms. This additional control variable is the pulse width of
the current pulse named P Wc as shown in figure 3.9. The pulse width of the current
waveform can be controlled during the design stage of the driver. Figures 3.12 and
3.13 are produced by changing P Wc while the remaining control variables are fixed at
Ipk = 5A, P Wv = 1.2μs and DT = 8μs. The input energy per cycle is nearly proportional
to the current pulse width while there is some optimum pulse width that results in the
maximum efficiency as shown in figures 3.12 and 3.13 respectively. When the current
pulse is too wide, ions will have enough time to move in the gap and therefore more
energy is deposited in the gas which does not produce useful UV radiation.
90
80
70
60
K (%)
50
40
30
20
1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5 4 4.5 5 5.5 6
Ipk (A)
Figure 3.11: Effect of peak current on lamp efficiency
0.02
0.018
0.016
0.014
Ein (J/cycle)
0.012
0.01
0.008
0.006
0.004
0.5 1 1.5 2
PWc (sec) -6
x 10
Figure 3.12: Effect of current pulse width on input energy per cycle
95
90
85
K (%)
80
75
70
65
0.5 1 1.5 2
PWc (sec) -6
x 10
Figure 3.13: Effect of current pulse width on lamp efficiency
3.4.3 Applied Voltage Pulse Width
The pulse width of the applied pulsed voltage P Wv is the period between the rise and
fall of the voltage. This pulse width affects the efficiency of the secondary discharge.
A longer pulse width would result in a weaker secondary discharge because some of the
free charges in the plasma are lost due to recombination. However, if the pulse width is
too short then insufficient surface charges will be accumulated on the dielectric barriers.
As mentioned before, these surface charges are the cause of the internal electric field
that generates the secondary discharge. In [60], the relation between the voltage pulse
width and the efficiency of the DBD lamp was examined. It was found that the efficiency
increases nearly proportional to the voltage pulse width and then it saturates.
Figure 3.14 shows the relation between the voltage pulse width and the input energy
per cycle of the DBD lamp at Ipk = 5A, P Wc = 1.1μs and DT = 8μs. The influence
of the voltage pulse width on the input energy per cycle is not significant as compared
to the effect of the current pulse width. This is due to the fact that during the interval
between the current pulses there is no input power to the lamp as the current is zero.
Figure 3.15 shows the impact of the voltage pulse width on the lamp efficiency while
the remaining control variables are fixed at the same values. As expected, longer pulse
widths increases the lamp efficiency until some maximum is reached. The trade-off is
that longer pulse widths will force operation with smaller frequencies and therefore less
input power to the lamp.
0.013
0.0128
0.0126
0.0124
Ein (J/cycle)
0.0122
0.012
0.0118
0.0116
0.0114
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 1.2 1.4
PWv (sec) -5
x 10
Figure 3.14: Effect of voltage pulse width on input energy per cycle
95
94
93
92
91
K (%)
90
89
88
87
86
85
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 1.2 1.4
PWv (sec) -5
x 10
Figure 3.15: Effect of voltage pulse width on lamp efficiency

3.4.4 Dead Time of Applied Voltage

The dead time is the period between two consecutive voltage pulses. This period allows
conditions for the formation of the diffuse discharge to develop which is the main factor
for improving the optical efficiency. During the dead time the free charges in the gap are
able to uniformly distribute themselves across the gas gap before the next breakdown
cycle. A uniform charge density distribution prevents the breakdown from occuring in
separate filaments across the gap.
The effect of the dead time on the DBD performance is shown in figures 3.16 and 3.17
at Ipk = 5A, P Wc = 1.1μs and P Wv = 1.2μs. The operating frequency is determined
by the dead time. The smallest possible dead time would correspond to the highest
operating frequency. The operating frequency determines the input power to the DBD
lamp. Therefore, there would be a limit on the maximum operating frequency to maintain
the diffuse form of the discharge which causes the high efficiency of the lamp.
0.013
0.0125
0.012
0.0115
Ein (J/cycle)
0.011
0.0105
0.01
0.0095
0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 1.2 1.4 1.6 1.8 2
DT (sec) -5
x 10
Figure 3.16: Effect of dead time on input energy per cycle
3.5 Effect of External Electrical Circuit

It has been mentioned in number of references [61] , [62] and [63], that the ringing in
the applied voltage to the DBD lamp due to the external circuit parasitic inductance
greatly affects the efficiency of the lamp. Therefore, a number of simulations have been
100
95
90
85
K (%)
80
75
70
65
0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 1.2 1.4 1.6 1.8 2
DT (sec) -5
x 10
Figure 3.17: Effect of dead time on lamp efficiency
performed to determine the effect of the external inductance value on the performance
of the DBD lamp.
A unipolar square pulse is used as the supply voltage. Its frequency is 50 kHz and the
peak value of 8kV as shown in figure 3.18. The first simulation is done with no external
parasitic inductance such that VDBD = Vs . Then, a number of simulations is performed
with different values for the external circuit parasitic inductance Ls . Figure 3.18 also
shows the voltage VDBD for different values of the external circuit parasitic inductance.
Higher parasitic inductance results in a decreased rate of rise of the applied voltage to
the DBD and a higher peak voltage.
The efficiency of the DBD lamp is given as a function of the parasitic inductance
in figure 3.19. Clearly, as the parasitic inductance increases, the efficiency of the lamp
decreases.The efficiency of the DBD drops from 92% to about 20% if the external circuit
inductance is increased from zero to 1mH. Usually the DBD power supply circuit includes
a step up transformer. Since the transformer leakage inductance that appears on the
lamp side is proportional to the turns ratio squared, the inductance cannot be neglected
in simulating the DBD lamp performance.
The rate of rise of VDBD as shown in figure 3.18 decreases as the inductance value is
increased which causes the decrease in the efficiency as described before. Another effect
of the inductance is the ringing that takes place after the discharge. This ringing results
only in power deposition in the plasma without producing UV radiation; therefore the
efficiency is also reduced. This has been also experimentally verified in [61] , [62] and [63].
4
x 10
1.5
Ls=1e-5 H
Ls=5e-5 H
Ls=1e-4 H
1
Ls=5e-4 H
Vs
V 0.5
-0.5
-1
0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5
Ti m e (s e c) -5
x 10

Figure 3.18: DBD voltage under different values for the external parasitic inductances
100
90
80
Pe rce n ta g e Effi ci e n cy
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1
Ls -3
x 10

Figure 3.19: Effect of external parasitic inductance on lamp efficiency
3.6 Summary
Chapter 3 demonstrated the different factors that impact the discharge performance
in a DBD lamp. The effect of the pressure, gas type and geometry on the discharge
appearance and efficiency have been briefly addressed. More emphasis was placed on
the effect of the electrical waveform supplied to the DBD lamp. The different waveforms
proposed in the literature have been described. Also, a brief explanation of the impact
of these waveforms on the physics of the discharge has been given.
The importance of the DBD voltage rate of rise was found to be crucial for enhancing
the lamp efficiency. It serves to produce a more diffuse discharge which is more favourable
for improving the lamp efficiency. In this work, it is proposed to control the current
waveform fed to the DBD lamp as opposed to the other approaches taken in the literature
where the DBD voltage was controlled. The advantages of the current control are direct
control over the DBD voltage rate of rise due to the capacitive nature of the lamp. From
the driver’s design aspect, using a controlled current source will give the designer the
chance to control the peak current flowing in the different components from the design
stage and therefore it is possible to design a more optimized driver from a components
ratings point of view.
The model developed in chapter 2 was used in this chapter to determine the effect
of the different parameters of the DBD current waveform on the lamp input power and
efficiency. It was found that increasing the peak current will increase the lamp input
power while the efficiency shows a nearly saturated behavior. Increased current pulse
width causes more energy to be deposited in the lamp and therefore the input power
increases. However, there is an optimum pulse width where maximum efficiency occurs.
The pulse width of the DBD voltage also impacts the lamp efficiency. A wider voltage
pulse width causes the lamp efficiency to increase until it reaches saturation. Another
important parameter of the applied waveform is the dead time applied to the lamp after
the secondary discharge. Increasing the dead time increases also the efficiency but this
comes at the expense of a lower operating frequency and therefore a lower input power
to the lamp.
Finally, the effect of the external circuit on the lamp efficiency was demonstrated
through simulations. It was found that the parasitic inductance in the circuit greatly
affects the efficiency and therefore it is essential to simulate the complete coupled system
combining both the driver and the lamp.
Chapter 4
Current Controlled Driver for DBD

lamp
4.1 Introduction
The DBD lamp presents a very challenging load for the power supply designer. The
lamp requires a high voltage-high frequency waveform for its operation which puts some
special constraints on the design process for the driver. The DBD lamp is a nonlinear
load that changes its nature based on the driver operation. This adds to the difficulty of
the driver design because the system is coupled and therefore an accurate model for the
DBD lamp is required.
Two approaches have been suggested for designing the power supply to drive the
DBD lamp. The first approach is to use a transformer to produce the required high
voltage. The transformer allows the use of fast switches with low voltage rating on the
primary side. However, the parasitics of the transformer like the leakage inductance
and the inter-winding capacitance at these high frequencies will affect the power supply
waveforms. The leakage inductance will limit the rise time of the applied waveform to the
lamp. Moreover, the lamp capacitance in conjunction with the transformer inductances
will create resonating circuits which cause unwanted oscillations in the output waveform.
These oscillations cannot be controlled unless the parasitics are taken into account in
the design of the power supply system. Therefore, in this approach the transformer
must be modeled accurately to predict the actual performance of the power supply.
Also, the transformer has to be designed with specific constraints placed on the parasitic
inductances and capacitances, which is a challenge.
88
Chapter 4. Current Controlled Driver for DBD lamp 89
The second approach is based on eliminating the step up transformer. However,

this leads to the use of a series stack of high voltage switches to provide high enough
blocking voltage for the individual switches. This approach does not suffer from the
parasitic problems of the transformer however the challenge will be in designing the drive
circuits for the series MOSFETs and the problems of seriesing MOSFETs, for example,
dynamic voltage sharing would not be trivial. Finally cost (and reliability issues would
be problematic.
The DBD driver should be designed such that it maximizes the efficiency of the whole
system including the lamp. The lamp has a much lower efficiency compared to the power
electronics circuit, therefore a practical solution is to design the driver to maximize the
efficiency of the lamp.
A brief review regarding previous DBD drivers proposed in the literature is given in
the next section. The problems associated with these drivers are also mentioned and from
which the objectives of the proposed driver are determined. In section 4.3, the operation
of the proposed driver is demonstarted through analyzing the equivalent circuit during
each interval. The design algorithm and flowchart for the proposed driver are described
in section 4.4 using the governing equations developed in section 4.3. The analysis of the
energy recovery circuit, which can be considered as a sub-circuit of the proposed driver,
is given in section 4.5. Finally, the simulation results obtained for the proposed driver
connected to the DBD lamp model developed in chapter 2 is illustrated in section 4.6.
4.2 Review of existing DBD drivers

This section presents a review of the state of the art in driver topologies used for driving
DBD lamps. The topologies include full bridge, half bridge, push pull, flyback, forward
and resonant converters.
4.2.1 Sinusoidal Waveform Drivers

The main topology that has been proposed to produce sinusoidal waveforms is the reso-
nant converter. A resonant converter contains a high frequency switch network to pro-
duce a square wave voltage. This square wave is applied to the load through a resonant
network that filters out the higher harmonic components.
In [64] , [65] and [66] a series resonant converter using MOSFETs, operating under
zero voltage switching (ZVS) conditions, has been proposed to drive the DBD lamp. The
capacitance of the DBD lamp is used as the resonant tank capacitor and the leakage
inductance of the transformer represents the resonant inductor. The series resonant
topology is characterized by its ability to maintain a high efficiency for different load
levels from no load to full load. It should be noted that in these papers, the authors
neglected the effect of the magnetizing inductance of the transformer which appears
always in parallel with the lamp. This direct connection between the lamp capacitance
and magnetizing inductance will cause sustained oscillations in the lamp voltage and
current. The effect of these oscillations is a reduction in the lamp efficiency as described
earlier in section 3.5.
A series parallel resonant converter using IGBTs has also been proposed to drive
a DBD lamp [67]. The switching frequency is maintained lower than the resonance
frequency to achieve zero current switching (ZCS) of the IGBT switches. The power
to the lamp can be varied by either controlling the duty ratio of the converter or the
switching frequency.
4.2.2 Pulsed Waveform Drivers

The topologies currently used are based on either hard switched converters or soft
switched converters. Each of these is discussed in more detail next.
4.2.3 Hard switched converters

Different topologies have been proposed to produce pulsed waveforms for the DBD lamps.
These include full bridge, half bridge, flyback, forward and push pull converters. In [62] ,
a DBD lamp is supplied using a full-bridge converter and a step-up transformer as shown
in figure 4.3 (a). The switches of the full-bridge converter can be controlled to produce
three different voltage waveforms across the DBD lamp:
1. a dead time duration is introduced in the switching scheme during which time none
of the switches are turned on. The waveform produced across the DBD is shown
in figure 4.1 (a).
2. a three level switching scheme is used by introducing a time duration during which
the primary is short-circuited as shown in figure 4.1 (b).
3. a two level switching scheme can also be produced as shown in figure 4.2.
(a) (b)
Figure 4.1: Different Waveforms produced by full bridge converter:(a) Dead time voltage
waveform, (b) Three level voltage waveform [60]
Figure 4.2: Two level voltage waveform produced by full bridge converter [60]
An advantage of using the switching schemes 1 and 2 over the switching scheme 3
is that the lamp peak current is reduced and consequently, the component ratings are
smaller. However, a drawback of the switching schemes 1 and 2 is that the optical
efficiency is lower than scheme 3. This is because the rate of rise and fall of the waveform
in schemes 1 and 2 is lower than that of scheme 3.
A half-bridge converter with a step-up transformer [61] can also be used for driving a
DBD lamp where two of the switches are replaced by two capacitors as shown in figure
4.3 (b). The switches can be controlled to produce the switching scheme with the dead
time as shown in figure 4.1 (a) and the two level switching shown in figure 4.2.
(a) Full Bridge Converter (b) Half Bridge Converter
(c) Flyback Converter (d) Push-Pull Converter
DBD lamp
(e) Third winding Flyback Converter (f) Half Bridge Converter with no Transformer
Figure 4.3: DBD proposed drivers: (a)Full bridge converter from [60] (b)Half bridge con-
verter from [59] (c)Flyback converter from [60] (d)Push-Pull converter from [67] (e)Third
winding flyback converter from [29] (f)Half bridge converter with no transformer from
[69]
A flyback converter has been proposed to drive the DBD lamp and is discussed in
more details in [62] and [68]. A flyback converter is simple and is relatively inexpen-
sive. At the time when the switch Q in figure 4.3 (c) is turned on, the lamp is charged
almost instantaneously to a constant voltage with no subsequent discharge because the
transformer turns ratio is small. Simultaneously, the magnetizing current of the trans-
former increases linearly until the switch is opened. Thereafter, the energy stored in the
magnetizing inductance is sufficiently large to charge the lamp capacitance to a voltage
that triggers ignition. After the discharge is extinguished, the lamp voltage starts to
decay rapidly due to the resonance between the lamp capacitance and the transformer
magnetizing inductance. This causes a secondary discharge to take place. Then the
lamp voltage continues to oscillate until the next cycle which will cause a reduction in
the efficiency of the lamp as described in chapter 3. Another method to excite the sec-
ondary discharge is suggested in [68] . The flyback switch Q in figure 4.3 (c) is turned on
again which causes the lamp voltage to drop rapidly to a lower level and the secondary
discharge is initiated.
Another version of the flyback converter is proposed in [69] to drive the DBD lamp.
The authors of this reference [69] used the term forward converter to describe their
proposed converter because the topology is the same as the flyback converter. However,
the difference in this converter is the turns ratio of the transformer. The turns ratio is
chosen such that the secondary voltage exceeds the ignition voltage of the DBD lamp
when the switch Q in figure 4.3(c) is turned on. As soon as the switch Q is opened, the
secondary discharge is initiated. The secondary discharge is caused by the fast fall of the
lamp voltage due to the resonance with the transformer magnetizing inductance. This
secondary discharge drives current in the opposite direction to remove the energy stored in
the transformer magnetizing inductance. If the volt-sec balance of the transfromer is not
maintained in this converter, the core might saturate. This problem is not encountered
in the flyback converter.
A push-pull converter to drive the DBD lamp is described in [69]. The transformer
has two primary windings with opposite dot polarities as shown in figure 4.3(d). Each of
the primary windings is connected in series with an assigned switch. The two windings
are clocked alternately. As a result, the transformer generates voltage pulses of opposite
polarity across the secondary winding. Therefore, the push-pull converter produces a
bipolar excitation waveform as opposed to the flyback and forward which produce a
unipolar waveform.
4.2.4 Soft switched converters
In the hard switched converters, the semiconductor devices suffer from switching losses
(turn-off and/or turn-on losses). In order to achieve higher frequencies, soft switched
converters can be used. Soft switching can be achieved by ensuring zero voltage switching
(ZVS) for MOSFET devices or zero current switching (ZCS) for IGBT devices.
Some soft switched converters have been proposed for driving the DBD lamp. The
authors of [30] suggested using a ZVS flyback converter. The only difference with this
converter compared to the conventional flyback converter shown in figure 4.3(c) is that
the switch is turned on again during the period when the anti-parallel diode of the switch
is on. However this makes the operating frequency fixed because the switch has to be
turned on during the conduction period of the diode which is related to the magnitude
of the magnetizing inductance of the transformer and the lamp capacitance.
To overcome this disadvantage, a modification to the normal flyback transformer
was proposed in [30] . The idea is to add a third winding in the transformer which is
grounded through a switch as shown in figure 4.3(e). The second switch S2 is closed
when the main switch S1 is opened and therefore the transformer is shorted. As a result
the stored energy in the transformer remains unchanged. The discharge will be initiated
in the lamp when the second switch opens. The main switch will be turned on during
the period when its anti-parallel diode is in the conduction mode. The delay offered by
the on-time of the second switch allows operation with a variable frequency.
The authors of [70] proposed half-bridge shown in figure 4.3(f) and full-bridge con-
verters that do not contain a step-up transformer. To reach the required ignition voltage
of the DBD lamp, a number of MOSFETS and diodes are connected in series to produce
a high enough blocking voltage for the switches. A series inductance is added in each
branch to form a resonant tank with the capacitance of the DBD lamp.
The discharge in the lamp is initiated after closing the switches in the upper branch
and when the voltage across the lamp reaches the ignition voltage. The series diodes
clamp the current at zero and therefore the MOSFET switches are turned off under ZCS.
The switches in the lower branch are closed after the required pulse width duration.
The main advantages of this topology are zero current switching, variable pulse width
of the lamp voltage and no issues with leakage inductance due to the absence of a trans-
former. On the other hand, the firing circuit for the cascaded MOSFET switches is
nontrivial. Voltage isolation, fast switching and dynamic voltage sharing are all serious
issues that need to be addressed. Also, this circuit requires a high voltage input bus.
These aforementioned pulsed DBD drivers suffer from one or more of the following
problems:
• There is always a direct connection between the lamp and the transformer (in the
case of the transformer based drivers). This will cause sustained oscillations after
the discharge and therefore not enough dead time will be produced. Therefore, the
efficiency of the lamp will drop.
• There is no direct control over the rate of rise of the DBD voltage except for the
flyback converter. The flyback converter transfers the energy in the magnetizing
inductance to the DBD lamp and can therefore be considered as s form of current
source on short time scales.
• Except for the flyback based driver all the other drivers are characterized as voltage
sources which is not suitable for a capacitive load like the DBD lamp since the
current through the lamp cannot be controlled easily.
4.3 Proposed DBD Driver

The DBD driver proposed in this work tries to avoid or eliminate the aforementioned
problems. However, this comes at the expense of a more complicated topology. The
proposed driver topology provides a current source to supply the DBD lamp with de-
coupling between the lamp and the transformer. A current source based DBD driver is
also proposed in [57]. The driver proposed in [57] uses either a boost or a buck-boost
topology. However, it still suffers from the problems associated with a direct connection
between the lamp and the transformer plus some other difficulties in the implementation
of the switch used in this driver.
4.3.1 Concept of the Driver

The concept of this driver is to feed the DBD lamp with a controlled current waveform.
The proposed waveform is the waveform shown in figure 2.2 in chapter 2. The impact of
the control variables of this waveform has been determined in chapter 3 from simulations
using the FVM model of chapter 2. The four control variables of this waveform are:
1. Peak current Ipk
2. Current pulse width P Wc
3. Voltage pulse width P Wv
4. Operating frequency Fs
In order to have the ability to control these variables, a special driver had to be
designed which is tailored to achieve these requirements. The driver consists of two main
modules as shown in figure 4.4 below. The module on the left (Module 1) of the lamp is
used to charge the lamp capacitance with the first current pulse and initiate a primary
discharge during the rising edge of the lamp voltage. To achieve the decoupling between
the lamp capacitance and the transformer magnetizing inductance after the discharge,
the diode D1s is placed between the lamp and the transformer. The second module
(Module 2) on the right of the lamp produces the opposite current pulse which initiates
the secondary discharge. It also serves the purpose of resetting the DBD voltage for the
next switching cycle. Diode D2s is also used to achieve the decoupling between the lamp
and the second transformer T2 .
Vdc2
Q1a Q2a
D1S D2S
T1 T2
D1b D1a D2a

Vdc1
Vrec
D2b
DBD Lamp
Q1b Q2b
Module 1 Module 2
Figure 4.4: DBD Driver Circuit Diagram
There are some critical issues that have to be fulfilled for this driver to perform as
required. These issues include:
1. The minimization of parasitic inductance in the circuit. For example the converters
should be tightly packaged with their source capacitors. This will decrease the
energy stored in the parasitic inductances which produces losses in the switching
devices and also generates over-voltages across the devices.
2. The minimization of any capacitance connected in parallel with the DBD lamp,
especially the inter-winding capacitance of the transformers. This is to ensure that
most of the charging/discharging current is being fed to the lamp capacitance and
not the parasitic capacitances in the circuit.
3. The coupling efficiency of the transformers should be maximized. Lower leakage

inductance will increase the rate of rise of the voltage across the DBD as will be
described later. The voltage rate of rise is crucial for improving the efficiency of
the DBD lamp as explained previously in section 3.4.
The details of the proposed topology will be demonstrated next by analyzing the different
time intervals over the period of operation. The equivalent circuit for each time interval
together with the governing equations will be displayed to show the purpose of each
interval.
4.3.2 Circuit Operation

During any time interval, a certain number of switching devices are in the on-state. This
will determine the equivalent circuit of this time interval and therefore the waveforms of
the different states in the system.
The switching scheme of the switches (Q1a , Q1b of Module 1 and Q2a , Q2b of Module
2) is given below in figure 4.5. The scheme shows also the switching period Ts , which is
to be controlled to achieve the required optical output power. This on-time ton of the
switches controls the peak current injected into the lamp and therefore the rate of change
of the lamp voltage during the primary and secondary discharge phases respectively.
A brief description of each operating interval is given in the following discussion ac-
companied by the operating part of the driver and the governing equations with the
assumption of ideal semiconductor devices and a lossless circuit:
Interval 1: (t0 < t < t1 )
During this interval, the switches Q1a and Q1b are turned on for a period of ton . All the
diodes in the circuit are off during this mode. The equivalent circuit of this interval is
shown in figure 4.6. The solution of this circuit gives the following expressions for the
Q1a,Q1b
ton
Q2a,Q2b
ton
D1a,D1b
D2a,D2b
D1s
D2s
t0 t1 t2 t4 t5 t6 t8 t9 t = Ts
Figure 4.5: Switching Scheme of the proposed driver
different currents and voltages in the circuit all referred to the lamp side. All the induc-
tances in the following equations are referred to the secondary side of the transformers.
The transformer current increases linearly based on the following equations:
n1 Vdc1
i1p (t) = t (4.1)
Ll1 + Lm1
n1 Vdc1
im1 (t) = t (4.2)
Ll1 + Lm1
i1s (t) = 0 (4.3)
vCd (t) = VCd (0) (4.4)
vCp (t) = VCp (0) (4.5)
vDBD (t) = vCd (t) + vCp (t) (4.6)
During this interval, the transformer current is ramped to a specific current (Im1 (t1 )) thus
storing a certain amount of energy in the magnetizing inductance of the transformer of
Module 1 (Transformer T1 ). This interval ends at t1 when the switches are turned off.
The current Im1 (t1 ) controls the rate of rise of the DBD voltage as will be described in
the following time intervals. This current referred to the primary side of the transformer
is given by:
Vdc1 ton
Im1 (t1 ) = (4.7)
Ll1 + Lm1
where
n1Vdc2
Q1a
i1p Ll
D1s
n1Vdc1 1:1
D1a
D1b Cd
im1 i1s
vDBD
Lm1 Rp Cp
Q1b
Figure 4.6: Equivalent Circuit of Interval 1
Vdc1 is the voltage of the lower stage of the converter of Module 1.

n1 is the turns ratio of the transformer T1 .
Lm1 is the magnetizing inductance of the flyback transformer T1 referred to the secondary
side.
Ll1 is the leakage inductance of the flyback transformer T1 referred to the secondary side.
ton is the controlled on-time of the switches of the converter of Module 1.
This interval starts when the switches of Module 1 (Q1a and Q1b ) are switched off and at
the same time the switches of Module 2 (Q2a and Q2b ) are switched on. The equivalent
circuit of this interval is shown in figure 4.7. The switches of Module 2 are switched on in
order to produce enough voltage to keep diode D2s in the off state. The blocking voltage
is the sum of the secondary voltage of T2 and the voltage Vrec . However, if the voltage
across the lamp reaches a value higher than the blocking voltage then diode D2s will
be forward biased. Since the impedance of the lamp is small compared to the referred
impedance of the transformer, the current flowing in the lamp is still much higher than
the current that would flow in transformer T2 ’s secondary winding. Therefore, the current
in this branch can be neglected.
The diode D1s on the secondary of T1 will be forward biased when the voltage across
the transformer is equal to the DBD voltage and the current will start to flow in the
secondary. The current of the primary leakage inductance will force the diodes D1a and
n1Vdc2
Q1a Q2a
i1p Ll1 Ll2 i2p

D1s D2s
n1Vdc1 1:1 1:1
D2a D2b
D1b D1a Cd i2s
im1 i1s
vDBD im2
Lm1 Rp Vrec
Cp Lm2
Q1b Q2b
D1b on the primary side of T1 to be forward biased, therefore there is a path for the
leakage current to flow. As a consequence, no overvoltage due to the resonance between
the leakage inductance and the switch capacitance will appear across the switches.
The diodes on the primary side of T1 are connected such that the negative sum of
Vdc1 and Vdc2 will be applied to the transformer T1 . This will shorten the time of the
current transfer from the primary to the secondary. Therefore the peak secondary current
will reach a value very close to the maximum magnetizing current Im1 (t1 ) at the end of
interval 1. As a result of the higher current transferred to the secondary, the voltage
across the DBD can achieve a higher rate of rise.
Before breakdown, the lamp behaves approximately as a series combination of two
capacitors. One capacitor represents the dielectric barrier material Cd and the second
capacitor represents the gas gap Cp . The equations for the currents and load voltage
based on that assumption are given by:
n1 (Vdc1 + Vdc2 ) Ll1 Ceq (n1 (Vdc1 + Vdc2 ) − VDBD (t1 )) t
im1 (t) = Im1 (t1 ) − t+ sin( )
Lm1 Lm1 Ll1 Ceq Ll1 Ceq
(4.8)
n1 (Vdc1 + Vdc2 ) Ceq (n1 (Vdc1 + Vdc2 ) − VDBD (t1 )) t
i1p (t) = Im1 (t1 )− t− sin( ) (4.9)
Lm1 Ll1 Ceq Ll1 Ceq
Ceq (n1 (Vdc1 + Vdc2 ) − VDBD (t1 )) t
i1s (t) = sin( ) (4.10)
Ll1 Ceq Ll1 Ceq
t t
vDBD (t) = n1 (Vdc1 + Vdc2 )(1 − cos( )) + VDBD (t1 ) cos( ) (4.11)
Ll1 Ceq Ll1 Ceq
These equations are obtained from the solution of the circuit and by using the approxima-
tion that Ll1 < Lm1 . This assumption is valid because as stated before the transformers
are designed in such a way as to maximize the coupling coefficient and therefore mini-
mize the leakage inductances. Ceq is the equivalent capacitance of the DBD lamp before
discharge.
Higher voltage applied to the transformer (Vdc1 + Vdc2 ) for a certain leakage induc-
tance speeds up the decay of the primary leakage current while the magnetizing current
decreases at a lower rate. This is explained by examining the third term in equations
4.8 and 4.9. The third term in equation 4.9 causes the fast decay of the leakage current
as it depends on the natural resonance frequency associated with the leakage inductance
and the lamp capacitance. On the other hand the third term in equation 4.8 is negli-
gible as it is multiplied by the ratio between the leakage and magnetizing inductance
of the transformer T1 . Therefore, increasing (Vdc1 + Vdc2 ) causes a faster decay for the
primary current thus forcing the peak secondary current to be closer to Im1 (t1 ). If the
leakage inductance of the transformer is decreased (which means more constraints on the
transformer design) then less back voltage Vdc2 can be used to achieve a peak secondary
current close to Im1 (t1 ).
At the same instant t1 , the switches of the second converter are turned on and there-
fore the current of this transformer increases linearly, according to equation 4.6. This
interval ends when the current flowing through the leakage inductance of the first trans-
former reaches zero. Therefore, the diodes on the primary side of the transformer are
reversed biased. These diodes should remain reverse biased to avoid any current flow
in the primary side of the transformer. This can be achieved by making sure that the
voltages Vdc1 and Vdc2 and the turns ratio of the transformer provide a higher voltage
than the lamp’s positive peak voltage.
In this interval, the primary leakage current of T1 has reached zero and therefore the
diodes on the primary side of T1 are all in the off-state. The devices (Q2a , Q2b and D1s )
are still on. The equivalent circuit of this interval is shown in figure 4.8. The solution of
the circuit gives the following relations based on the assumption that the current flowing
in D2s is neglected:
i1p (t) = 0 (4.12)

t Ceq t
im1 (t) = Im1 (t2 ) cos( )− VDBD (t2 ) sin( ) (4.13)
Lm1 Ceq Lm1 Lm1 Ceq
n1Vdc2
Q1a Q2a
i1p Ll1 Ll2 i2p

D1s D2s
n1Vdc1 1:1 1:1
D2a D2b
D1b D1a Cd i2s
im1 i1s
im2
vDBD
Lm1 Rp Cp Vrec Lm2
Q1b Q2b

t Ceq t
i1s (t) = Im1 (t2 ) cos( )− VDBD (t2 ) sin( ) (4.14)
Lm1 Ceq Lm1 Lm1 Ceq

Lm1 t t
vDBD (t) = Im1 (t2 ) sin( ) + VDBD (t2 ) cos( ) (4.15)
Ceq Lm1 Ceq Lm1 Ceq
Im1 (t2 ) and VDBD (t2 ) are the magnetizing current of transformer T1 and lamp voltage at
the end of interval 2 respectively. As can be seen from equation 4.15, the rate of change
of the lamp voltage during this period depends on the value of the magnetizing current
at the end of interval 2, which is influenced by the initial magnetizing current at time
t1 . Therefore the rate of change of the lamp voltage can be controlled by choosing the
on-time of the switches associated with Module 1 converter. This interval ends when the
lamp voltage reaches the ignition voltage of the DBD lamp.
This interval starts when the lamp voltage reaches the ignition voltage and a discharge
occurs in the lamp. Hence a means of modeling the conduction current must be incorpo-
rated into the DBD model. A variable resistance Rp with the current iRp is introduced
into the model to account for the discharge. The equivalent circuit of this mode is shown
in figure 4.9. The transformer current and the lamp voltages are described by the state
space model for this interval assuming the initial conditions obtained at the end of the
n1Vdc2
Q1a Q2a
i1p Ll1 Ll2 i2p

D1s D2s
n1Vdc1
1:1 1:1
D2a D2b
D1b D1a Cd i2s
im1 i1s
im2
vDBD
Lm1 Rp Cp Vrec Lm2
Q1b Q2b
previous interval. The state space model is given by the following equation:
⎡ ⎤ ⎡ ⎤⎡ ⎤ ⎡ ⎤
im1 0 −1/Lm1 −1/Lm1 im1 0
d ⎢⎢
⎥
⎥
⎢
⎢
⎥⎢
⎥⎢
⎥ ⎢
⎥ ⎢
⎥
⎥
⎢ v ⎥ = ⎢ 1/Cd 0 0 ⎥⎢ vcd ⎥ +⎢ 0 ⎥ iRp (4.16)
dt ⎣ cd ⎦ ⎣ ⎦⎣ ⎦ ⎣ ⎦
vcp 1/Cp 0 0 vcp −1/Cp
At the end of this time interval (im1 = 0) diode D1s is switched off. The time period
of interval 4 is defined as the current pulse width (P Wc ) produced by this driver. This
P Wc depends on the value of the magnetizing inductance Lm1 referred to the secondary
winding. The relation is approximately given by

P Wc ∝ Lm1 Cd (4.17)
Since the referred magnetizing inductance is proportional to n21 , then P Wc is proportional

to n1 . Higher Vdc1 and Vdc2 will decrease the turns ratio n1 required to keep the diodes
on the primary side reverse biased therefore P Wc will also decrease.
This time interval starts when im1 = 0 and ends when the switches of Module 2 (Q2a
and Q2b ) are switched off. This mode determines the voltage pulse width P Wv (the time
between the primary discharge and the secondary discharge). At the end of this interval
the magnetizing current Im2 (t5 ) of the transformer T2 will determine the rate of change
of the lamp voltage during the secondary discharge phase. This current is given by the
following equation:
n2 Vdc1
Im2 (t5 ) = (t5 − t1 ) (4.18)
Ll2 + Lm2
n1Vdc2
Q1a Q2a
i1p Ll1 Ll2 i2p

D1s D2s
n1Vdc1 1:1 1:1
D2a D2b
D1b D1a Cd i2s
im1 i1s
im2
vDBD
Lm1 Rp Cp Vrec Lm2
Q1b Q2b
Therefore by choosing t5 and Lm2 , the rate of change of the lamp voltage can be controlled
during the secondary discharge.
The equivalent circuit of this interval which starts at t5 (instant at which Q2a and Q2b
are switched off) is shown in figure 4.11. It is similar to the equivalent circuit of interval
n1Vdc2
Q1a Q2a
i1p Ll1 Ll2 i2p

D1s D2s
n1Vdc1
1:1 1:1
D2a D2b
D1b D1a Cd i2s
im1 i1s
im2
vDBD
Rp Vrec
Lm1 Cp Lm2
Q1b Q2b
2. There is one difference which is the presence of a voltage source Vrec connected in
series with the transformer on the secondary side. As soon as the switches Q2a and Q2b
are switched off, the leakage inductance current on the primary side of T2 forces the
diodes D2a and D2b to be forward biased. Therefore the sum of the two DC voltages will
be applied to the primary winding with a reverse polarity. This will force the primary
leakage current i2p to go to zero and the current will start to build up on the secondary
side of T2 . This mode ends when i2p reaches zero. The equations describing the different
variables in the circuit are as follows:
n2 (Vdc1 + Vdc2 ) Ll2 Ceq (n2 (Vdc1 + Vdc2 ) + VDBD (t5 ) − Vrec ) t
im2 (t) = Im2 (t5 )− t+ sin( )
Lm2 Lm2 Ll2 Ceq Ll2 Ceq
(4.19)
n2 (Vdc1 + Vdc2 ) Ceq (n2 (Vdc1 + Vdc2 ) + VDBD (t5 ) − Vrec ) t
i2p (t) = Im2 (t5 ) − t− sin( )
Lm2 Ll2 Ceq Ll2 Ceq
(4.20)
Ceq (n1 (Vdc1 + Vdc2 ) + VDBD (t5 ) − Vrec ) t
i2s (t) = sin( ) (4.21)
Ll2 Ceq Ll2 Ceq
t t
vDBD (t) = VDBD (t5 ) cos( ) + (Vrec − n2 (Vdc1 + Vdc2 ))(1 − cos( )) (4.22)
Ll2 Ceq Ll2 Ceq

This time interval starts when the leakage inductance current i2p reaches zero. The
equivalent circuit is shown in figure 4.12. This interval ends at the instant where the
lamp voltage reaches the ignition voltage. The solution of this circuit gives the following
n1Vdc2
Q1a Q2a
i1p Ll1 Ll2 i2p

D1s D2s
n1Vdc1 1:1 1:1
D2a D2b
D1b D1a Cd i2s
im1 i1s
im2
vDBD
Rp Vrec
Lm1 Cp Lm2
Q1b Q2b
equations:
i2p (t) = 0 (4.23)

t Ceq t
im2 (t) = Im2 (t6 ) cos( )− (VDBD (t6 ) − Vrec ) sin( ) (4.24)
Lm2 Ceq Lm2 Lm2 Ceq

t Ceq t
i2s (t) = Im2 (t6 ) cos( )− (VDBD (t6 ) − Vrec ) sin( ) (4.25)
Lm2 Ceq Lm2 Lm2 Ceq

Lm2 t t
vDBD (t) = − Im2 (t6 ) sin( )+(VDBD (t6 )−Vrec ) cos( )+Vrec (4.26)
Ceq Lm2 Ceq Lm2 Ceq
The rate of change of the lamp voltage is affected by the magnetizing current of T2 and
the difference between the voltage across the lamp VDBD and the voltage Vrec . However
the main factor affecting the rate of change is the magnetizing current because the current
term in equation 4.26 is multiplied by the square root of the ratio between the magnetizing
inductance Lm2 and the equivalent lamp capacitance Ceq . The equivalent capacitance
Ceq of the lamp is usually in the range of tens of pF and therefore this ratio is very large
and the effect of the voltage term is nearly negligible with respect to the current term.
This time interval starts when the breakdown voltage required to initiate the secondary
discharge has been attained. It is similar to interval 4 explained before. The state space
model of the equivalent circuit shown in figure 4.13 is as follows:
⎡ ⎤ ⎡ ⎤⎡ ⎤ ⎡ ⎤
im2 0 1/Lm2 1/Lm2 im2 0 −1/Lm2 ⎡ ⎤
d ⎢⎢
⎥
⎥
⎢
⎢
⎥⎢
⎥⎢
⎥ ⎢
⎥ ⎢
⎥
⎥⎣ iRp
⎦
⎢ v ⎥ = ⎢ −1/Cd 0 0 ⎥⎢ vcd ⎥ +⎢ 0 0 ⎥
dt ⎣ cd ⎦ ⎣ ⎦⎣ ⎦ ⎣ ⎦ Vrec
vcp −1/Cp 0 0 vcp −1/Cp 0
(4.27)
n1Vdc2
Q1a Q2a
i1p Ll1 Ll2 i2p

D1s D2s
n1Vdc1
1:1 1:1
D2a D2b
D1b D1a Cd i2s
im1 i1s
im2
vDBD
Rp Vrec
Lm1 Cp Lm2
Q1b Q2b

Interval 9: (t8 < t < Ts )

This time interval starts when the lamp voltage reaches zero and the diode D1s on the
secondary of T1 becomes forward biased. The lamp voltage oscillates for a number of
cycles until the currents flowing through both transformers decay to zero at t9 . This
is assured because of the recovery voltage Vrec . Increasing the level of this voltage will
decrease the time needed for the transformers’ currents to decay to zero and therefore in-
creases the maximum allowable operating frequency Fsmax . The equivalent circuit during
this interval is shown in figure 4.14.
n1Vdc2
Q1a Q2a
i1p Ll1 Ll2 i2p

D1s D2s
n1Vdc1
1:1 1:1
D2a D2b
D1b D1a Cd i2s
im1 i1s
im2
vDBD
Rp Vrec
Lm1 Cp Lm2
Q1b Q2b
For the rest of the cycle, there is no current flowing in the lamp and therefore the
dead time required across the lamp can be controlled through the value of Vrec . At Ts
the new cycle starts when the switches of the first converter are turned on again. The
ideal waveforms obtained from the equations of each interval are shown in figures 4.15
and 4.16. Figure 4.15 shows the waveforms for intervals 1-5 while figure 4.16 shows the
waveforms for intervals 6-9.
4.4 Design Procedure

The design procedure of the proposed driver is based on the following requirements that
have to be fulfilled:
1. A voltage pulse width (P Wv (sec)) which is limited by a specified maximum value

i1p i1s
t0
t1 t2 t4
i2p i2s
t1 t5
Vigni
vDBD
t1 t3
Figure 4.15: Ideal waveforms obtained for the transformers’ currents and the lamp voltage
as calculated from the operating intervals’ equations for intervals 1-5
i1p i1s
t8 t9
i2p i2s
t5 t6
vDBD
t7 t8 t9
Figure 4.16: Ideal waveforms obtained for the transformers’ currents and the lamp voltage
as calculated from the operating intervals’ equations for intervals 6-9
P Wv (max). The voltage pulse width is the period between the primary and sec-
ondary discharges.
2. A specific current pulse width (P Wc (sec)) for the positive and negative current
pulses.
3. A maximum rate of rise across the DBD lamp (RRmax (kV /μsec)) during the pri-
mary discharge.
4. Maximum operating frequency (Fs ).
5. Identical transformers for both modules so as to make the driver design more prac-
tical.
The design variables are:
1. Transformers parameters: Lp , k and n
2. The maximum on-time ton of the switches of both modules
3. Maximum recovery module voltage Vrec (max)
The Design Algorithm
1. Based on the description of intervals 2-5, the on-time of the switches of module 2
is equal to the period between the primary and secondary discharges which is what
was defined to be the voltage pulse width P Wv . Therefore the maximum voltage
pulse width P Wv is the same as the maximum on-time ton . Using equation 4.7 the
primary inductance Lp can be determined. The current used in this equation is
equal to the rating of the chosen MOSFETS. The voltage Vdc1 is predetermined by
the ac line voltage and power factor correction circuit. The second voltage level Vdc2
is chosen based on the voltage rating of the chosen MOSFETS since the maximum
voltage appearing across the lower MOSFET is equal to Vdc1 + Vdc2 .
2. The turns ratio of the transformer n1 is constrained in order to maintain the diodes
on the primary side of T1 reverse biased as soon as the leakage inductance current
reaches zero. The turns ratio of the transformer n1 has to satisfy the following
constraint:
VDBD (max)
n1 > (4.28)
Vdc1 + Vdc2
where
Lm1
VDBD (max) ≈ Im1 (t1 ) (4.29)
Cd
Equation 4.29 gives the maximum voltage across the DBD lamp in case of zero
plasma resistance Rp . Figure 4.17 below shows the effect of the plasma resistance
Rp on the peak voltage for different transformer turns ratio n. This figure has
been derived based on a series circuit consisting of the transformer magnetizing
inductance referred to the secondary side with an initial current and an equivalent
circuit of the DBD lamp. This equivalent circuit of the DBD is shown in figure
4.14. Cd represents the dielectric barrier capacitance, Cp is the gap capacitance
and the plasma resistance is Rp . The value of the plasma resistance is however not
determined from the beginning as it depends on the operating conditions of the
driver.
7200
n=11
n=12
n=13
7000
6800
(max) (V)
6600
DBD
Peak DBD Voltage V
6400
6200
6000
5800
5600
0 100 200 300 400 500 600
Plasma Resistance R (:)
p
Figure 4.17: Plasma resistance effect on peak DBD voltage
3. The rate of rise of the voltage applied across the DBD lamp depends on the peak
value of the magnetizing inductance current and on the leakage inductance of the
transformer. It is important to decrease the leakage inductance as much as possible
to ensure efficient transfer of the stored energy to the lamp capacitance on the
secondary side. From equations 4.9, 4.11 and 4.15, which apply for intervals 2 and
3, the rate of rise across of the voltage across the DBD lamp can be related to the
coupling factor of the transformer and the peak magnetizing current. The coupling
factor k is defined as k = sqrt( LmL+L
m
l
). This relation is shown in figure 4.18 for
different transformer turns ratio n. Based on the maximum allowable current in
65
n=11
n=12
n=13
60
55
RR(kV/Psec)
50
45
40
0.96 0.965 0.97 0.975 0.98 0.985 0.99
Coupling Factor k
Figure 4.18: Transformer coupling coefficient effect on DBD voltage rate of rise
the MOSFETS, the minimum coupling factor to achieve the required rate of rise
across the DBD lamp can be determined from figure 4.18.
4. The current pulse width P Wc is determined from the equivalent circuit of the driver
which applies during intervals 4 and 8. The P Wc is determined by the natural
frequency of this circuit. Therefore, the P Wc may be calculated from the following
equation approximately:
π
P Wc ≈
n Lm Cd (4.30)
2
The two assumptions taken in equation 4.30 are:
• During the discharge, the resistance of the plasma is very small and therefore
it can be assumed to be shorting the capacitor Cp .
• The magnetizing current is still very close to its peak value.
Figure 4.19 shows the effect of the plasma resistance on the current pulse width
for different turns ratio n. It has been derived based on a series circuit consisting
of the transformer magnetizing inductance referred to the secondary side with an
initial current and the same equivalent circuit of the DBD lamp as shown in figure
4.14. The black circle shows the value obtained for the current pulse width from
equation 4.30.
1.6
n=11
n=12
1.55 n=13
1.5
Current Pulse Width PW (Psec)
1.45
c
1.4
1.35
1.3
1.25
1.2
1.15
0 100 200 300 400 500 600
Plasma Resistance Rp(:)
Figure 4.19: Plasma resistance effect on current pulse width
5. The recovery voltage Vrec is used to assure the presence of a dead time in the voltage
across the lamp where there are no oscillations. The recovery voltage Vrec can be
controlled to produce a certain dead time under the required operating frequency.
Higher recovery voltage will result in longer dead time for the same operating fre-
quency. The maximum value Vrec (max) will determine the maximum achievable
operating frequency with zero dead time. When the currents of both transformers
go to zero, the new cycle can start in order to maintain the Discontinuous Conduc-
tion Mode (DCM) of the converters. The DCM operating condition is required to
maintain the ZCS turn-on condition of the MOSFETs and the ZCS turn-off of the
diodes on the secondary side of the transformers. These soft switching conditions
reduce the losses in the driver. The DCM is also important to demagnetize the
transformers and therefore the transformers will not face any saturation problems.
Figure 4.20 shows the effect of Vrec on the time tf taken to stop the oscillations
for different values of the plasma resistance Rp . This figure has been derived using
the equivalent circuit of interval 9 and the equivalent circuit of the DBD lamp as
shown in figure 4.14.
30
Rp=200:
Rp=400:
Rp=800:
Rp=1200:
25
Rp=1600:
20
t (Ps)
15
f
10
0
200 400 600 800 1000 1200 1400 1600
V (V)
rec
Figure 4.20: Effect of Vrec on the oscillation period
The Design Flowchart

A flow chart for the design procedure is presented in figure 4.21 based on the design
algorithm described before. In the flow chart of figure 4.21, Imax is equal to the rating
of the MOSFET to be used in the driver. Vdc2 will be determined based on the chosen
MOSFET such that Vdc1 + Vdc2 = Vmax . Vmax is the voltage rating of the MOSFET. The
different design parameters can be calculated from the corresponding equations as shown
in the flow chart. Using the model of the FVM DBD lamp developed in chapter 2 the
actual maximum DBD voltage can be determined. The turns ratio n is decreased if the
maximum DBD voltage is lower than the referred value of Vdc1 + Vdc2 . The calculation is
repeated until the smallest n is reached. The current pulse width P Wc is then compared
to the required value. The whole design should be repeated with a different Imax if P Wc
is not equal to the required value.
Vdc1, PWv(max), PWc,
RR(max), Fs(max)
Choose Imax, Vdc2
1] Calculate Lp using eq4.7 by setting ton=PWv(max)
2] Calculate n using eqs 4.28 & 4.29
3] Determine k from fig. 4.16 to obtain RR(max)
4] Determine Vrec from fig. 4.18 based on Fs(max)
Perform simulation using

FVM model
Yes Can n be
decreased?
No
No
Is PWc achieved?
Yes
Final Design
Figure 4.21: Proposed Driver Design Flowchart

4.5 Energy Recovery Converter

The energy recovery converters (ERC’s) are used in the proposed DBD driver to imple-
ment constant DC voltage levels at certain locations in the circuit. One ERC will be
used to produce the voltage of the second level (Vdc2 ). This voltage is required to achieve
high energy transfer between the primary and secondary windings of the charging and
discharging transformers (T1 and T2 ) and to maintain the diodes on the primary side
reversed biased. In addition, a number of series ERCs will be used to produce the volt-
age source (Vrec ) on the secondary side of the discharging transformer T2 . This voltage
source is used to demagnetize the transformers and to discharge the capacitance of the
DBD during interval 9 as described in section 4.3. The number of ERCs required to
implement the Vrec voltage source depend on the rating of the MOSFETs used in the
design of the ERCs. MOSFETs with higher voltage rating will reduce the number of
converters required.
A two switch flyback converter with clamping diodes has been used to implement the
ERC. The topology is shown in figure 4.22. The function of this converter is to maintain
the voltage across the capacitor at the input at a fixed DC voltage level. The additional
charge deposited in the capacitor due to the current source ig which represents the current
flowing in the main circuit of the DBD driver, has to be transferred back to the main
DC bus. This task can be accomplished by controlling the on-time of the switches.
The different time intervals of this converter are demonstrated. The small signal
model of such a converter is also derived using the state space averaging approach. The
small signal model is required to design a suitable controller for this ERC. It is required
to design a controller for this converter because the DC voltage across the input capacitor
can be changed to obtain a variable recovery voltage Vrec or the second DC voltage level
Vdc2 . This will provide additional control variables in the proposed DBD driver beside
the main control variable which is the on-time of the MOSFETs.
4.5.1 Nonlinear State Space Model

The switching of the converter MOSFETS is controlled in order to maintain the voltage
vc at a certain value in response to changes in the input current ig . The converter must
be operated under discontinuous conduction mode (DCM) in order to avoid saturation
of the transformer and to avoid any turn off losses in the diode on the secondary winding
(ZCS turn off). The transformer is used to provide the required isolation and also to
Q1
Ds
ip 1:n
C is /n
ig vc Da
Db Vg
Q2
Figure 4.22: Energy Recovery Converter circuit diagram
provide a suitable turn’s ratio to have the converter perform as intended. The large signal
model of the converter can be obtained using the state space averaging approach.
This model is then linearized around its equilibrium point to obtain the small signal
model. The state variables are taken to be the input capacitor voltage vc , the primary
inductor current ip and the secondary inductor current is . The derivation of this model
based on the procedure shown in [71] is described next.
There are four different time intervals in each operating cycle for this converter. The
analysis assumes ideal semiconductor devices and a lossless circuit.
1. First interval: t0 < t < d1 Ts
Both switches are on during this time interval. The interval ends when the switches
are turned off. The equivalent circuit for this time interval is shown in figure 4.23.
The transformer is modeled using a primary leakage inductance Llp , secondary leakage
inductance Lls and a magnetizing inductance Lm . All inductances are referred to the
primary side of the transformer. The state variables are the primary leakage current
ip (t), the secondary leakage current is (t) and the input capacitor voltage vc (t). The state
space equation for this time interval is given by:
dx
= A1 x + B1 u (4.31)
dt
where ⎡ ⎤
vc
⎢ ⎥
⎢ ⎥
x = ⎢ ip ⎥ (4.32)
⎣ ⎦
is
Q1
ip Llp
C Ds
vc Lls
ig Db Da
is
Lm
Vg/n
Q2
Figure 4.23: Equivalent Circuit of ERC during interval 1
⎡ ⎤
0 −1/C 0
⎢ ⎥
⎢ ⎥
A1 = ⎢ 1/Lp 0 0 ⎥ (4.33)
⎣ ⎦
0 0 0
⎡ ⎤
1/C 0
⎢ ⎥
⎢ ⎥
B1 = ⎢ 0 0 ⎥ (4.34)
⎣ ⎦
0 0
⎡ ⎤
ig
u=⎣ ⎦ (4.35)
vg /n
2. Second interval: d1 Ts < t < (d1 + d2 )Ts
The clamping diodes conduct when the switches are turned off. The diode on the sec-
ondary side Ds will conduct if the following condition is satisfied:
Lm
vc n > Vg (4.36)
Lp
The equivalent circuit of this interval is shown in figure 4.24. The matrices for this state
space model with reference to the general state space form in equation 4.31 are:
⎡ ⎤
0 1/C 0
⎢ ⎥
⎢ ⎥
A2 = ⎢ −Ls /L 0 0 ⎥ (4.37)
⎣ ⎦
Lm /L 0 0
Q1
ip Llp
C Ds
vc Lls
ig Db Da
is
Lm
Vg/n
Q2
⎡ ⎤
1/C 0
⎢ ⎥
⎢ ⎥
B2 = ⎢ 0 Lm /L ⎥ (4.38)
⎣ ⎦
0 −Lp /L
where L = Lm (Llp + Lls ) + Llp Lls To avoid turning on the clamping diodes after the
leakage current has reached zero, the turn’s ratio n has to satisfy the following relation:
Vg
n> (4.39)
vc
The constraint in equation 4.39 is automatically satisfied if the constraint 4.36 is satisfied
Lm
since Lp
< 1.
3. Third interval: (d1 + d2 )Ts < t < (d1 + d2 + d3 )Ts
In this time interval, all of the semiconductor devices on the primary side are turned off
and the current is only flowing in the secondary winding transferring the energy back to
the DC bus as shown in the equivalent circuit of figure 4.25. This interval ends at the
instant when the current on the secondary side goes to zero and the diode Ds turns off
under zero current switching condition. The matrices for this state space model with
reference to the general state space form in equation 4.31 are:
⎡ ⎤
0 0 0
⎢ ⎥
⎢ ⎥
A3 = ⎢ 0 0 0 ⎥ (4.40)
⎣ ⎦
0 0 0
Q1
ip Llp
C Ds
vc Lls
ig Db Da
is
Lm
Vg/n
Q2
⎡ ⎤
1/C 0
⎢ ⎥
⎢ ⎥
B3 = ⎢ 0 0 ⎥ (4.41)
⎣ ⎦
0 −1/Ls
4. Fourth interval: (d1 + d2 + d3 )Ts < t < Ts
In this interval, the capacitor is charged by the current source and there is no current
flowing in the transformer. The fourth interval equivalent circuit is shown in figure 4.26.
The matrices for this state space model with reference to the general state space form in
Q1
ip Llp
C Ds
vc Lls
ig Db Da
is
Lm
Vg/n
Q2

equation 4.31 are:

⎡ ⎤
0 0 0
⎢ ⎥
⎢ ⎥
A4 = ⎢ 0 0 0 ⎥ (4.42)
⎣ ⎦
0 0 0
⎡ ⎤
1/C 0
⎢ ⎥
B4 = ⎢
⎢ 0
⎥
0 ⎥ (4.43)
⎣ ⎦
0 0
The averaged nonlinear time invariant model can be obtained using the equation obtained
from [71]:
dx
= f (x, u, d1 ) = AMx + Bu (4.44)
dt
where
A = d1 (A1 − A4 ) + d2 (A2 − A4 ) + d3 (A3 − A4 ) + A4 (4.45)
B = d1 (B1 − B4 ) + d2 (B2 − B4 ) + d3 (B3 − B4 ) + B4 (4.46)

⎡ ⎤
1 0 0
⎢ ⎥
⎢ 1 ⎥
M =⎢ 0 0 ⎥ (4.47)
⎣ d1 +d2 ⎦
1
0 0 d2 +d3
The modification matrix M (as named in [71] ) is introduced in equation 4.44 to obtain
the correct average value of the capacitor current under discontinuous conduction mode
(DCM) condition as derived in [71]. The average capacitor current predicted by the
state space averaging method (SSA) without the matrix M will not preserve charge
conservation under DCM. This can be attributed to the fact that the SSA performs the
averaging just using the matrices describing each interval and not on the Kirchoff’s laws
describing the circuit. Under DCM operation, the correct capacitor charging current
will only be obtained if the averaging is performed using Kirchoff’s laws. In [71] the
authors proved that the averaging obtained from the SSA under DCM can be corrected
by multiplying the matrix A by the modification matrix M.
By substituting the different matrices in equations 4.45 and 4.46, the following non-
linear charge conserved time invariant state space model is obtained:
⎡ ⎤ ⎡ ⎤
−d1 +d2
0 C(d1 +d2 )
0 1/C 0
dx ⎢⎢ d1 L−d2 Lp Ls
⎥
⎥
⎢
⎢
⎥
⎥
=⎢ 0 0 ⎥x + ⎢ 0 d2 Lm ⎥u (4.48)
dt ⎣ Lp L ⎦ ⎣ L ⎦
d2 Lm
L
0 0 0 − d2LLp − Ld3s
The next step is to obtain the dependent duty ratios d2 and d3 as functions of the
state variables x, the inputs u and the controlled duty ratio d1 . These functions can be
determined through the relations between the average values of the inductors’ currents
ip , is and the capacitor voltage vc . The final equations for the dependent duty ratios are:
2Lp ip
d2 = − d1 (4.49)
d1 Ts vc
2Ld1 vc is 2Lp ip
d3 = − + d1 (4.50)
(2Lp ip − d21 Ts vc )(Lm vc − Lp vg ) d1 Ts vc

The DC operating point can be obtained by setting the time derivatives of the averaged
nonlinear time invariant model of equation 4.48 to zero. Figure 4.27 shows the relation
between the duty ratio D1 and the steady state capacitor voltage Vc under the operating
conditions given in table 4.1. Figure 4.28(a) shows the relation between the duty ratio
Table 4.1: Operating conditions for testing the small signal model of the ERC
Parameter Value
Vg (V ) 435
n 2
Fs (kHz) 200
Ig (A) 0.4
Lm (μH) 100
Llp (μH) 4
Lls (μH) 4
C(nF ) 500
D1 and the dependent duty ratios D2 , D3 and D4 . The DCM operation limit occurs
when the duty ratio D4 = 0, as shown in figure 4.28(a). The average value of the
primary current and secondary current as functions of the duty ratio D1 are shown in
figure 4.28(b).
4.5.2 Linearized State Space Model

The linearized time invariant system around the equilibrium point (xo , uo, D1 ) is given
by:
dx̃
= AL x̃ + BL ũ + Δd˜1 (4.51)
dt
2000
1800
1600
1400
1200
V (V)
c
1000
800
600
400
200
0.1 0.15 0.2 0.25 0.3 0.35 0.4 0.45 0.5
Duty Ratio D
1
Figure 4.27: Relation between D1 and Vc
0.8 2.5
D2 Ip
0.7 I /n
D s
3
D4
2
0.6
0.5
1.5
0.4
A
0.3
1
0.2
0.1
0.5
-0.1 0
0.1 0.15 0.2 0.25 0.3 0.35 0.4 0.45 0.5 0.1 0.15 0.2 0.25 0.3 0.35 0.4 0.45 0.5
Duty Ratio D1 Duty Ratio D1
(a) (b)
Figure 4.28: Effect of D1 on the dependent duty ratios (a) and the primary and secondary
current(b)
where
∂f
AL = |(x ,u ,D ) (4.52)
∂x o o 1
∂f
BL = |(x ,u ,D ) (4.53)
∂u o o 1
∂f
Δ= |(x ,u ,D ) (4.54)
∂d1 o o 1
For the operating conditions given in table 4.1, the linearized state space model around
the equilibrium point at D1 = 0.2116 is given by the following matrices:
⎡ ⎤
−4.305 × 103 2 × 103 0
⎢ ⎥
⎢ ⎥
AL = ⎢ 1.415 × 104 −1.3 × 107 0 ⎥ (4.55)
⎣ ⎦
−1.152 × 104 1.26 × 107 −1.303 × 105
⎡ ⎤
2 × 106 0
⎢ ⎥
BL = ⎢
⎢ 0
⎥
3.77 × 103 ⎥ (4.56)
⎣ ⎦
0 −7.78 × 103
⎡ ⎤
−1.78 × 107
⎢ ⎥
Δ=⎢
⎢ 6.6 × 10 7 ⎥
⎥ (4.57)
⎣ ⎦
−5.96 × 107
The control to output Gvd , input disturbance to output Gvi and the output disturbance
to output Gvg transfer functions can be obtained as follows:
v˜c (s) s + 5.56 × 106

Gvd (s) = = −1.77 × 107 2 (4.58)
d˜1 (s) s + 1.301 × 107 s + 2.77 × 107
v˜c (s) s + 1.301 × 107

Gvi (s) = = 2 × 106 2 (4.59)
i˜g (s) s + 1.301 × 107 s + 2.77 × 107
v˜c (s) 1
Gvg (s) = = 7.538 × 109 2 (4.60)
v˜g (s) s + 1.301 × 107 s + 2.77 × 107
Figure 4.29 shows the response of the capacitor voltage to a step change in the input
current from both the circuit simulation (using the SIMETRIX software package) and
from the linearized model. Figure 4.30 shows the response of the capacitor voltage to a
step change in the duty ratio d1 also obtained from both the circuit simulation and from
the linearized model. As seen from figures 4.29 and 4.30, the system has nearly a first
order response. This is also clear from the poles of the transfer functions. The poles for
the example given above are equal to −2.129 × 103 and −1.3 × 107 . The first pole is much
445
440
435
430
ig / mA
425
420
415
410
405
500
Capacitor Voltage / V 480
460
440
420
400
380 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5 4
Secs/mSecs 500uSecs/div
Figure 4.29: Capacitor voltage vc response to a step change in ig
219
218
217
d1 / mV
216
215
214
213
212
480
460
Capacitor voltage / V
440
420
400
380 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5 4 4.5
Time/mSecs 500uSecs/div
Figure 4.30: Capacitor voltage vc response to a step change in d1

smaller than the second pole and therefore the system can be approximated as a first
order system. This can also be explained by the DCM operation of the converter and
therefore the dynamics related to the inductors currents is much faster than the capacitor
voltage dynamics.
4.6 Simulation Results

The lamp constructed for this project is based on XeCl gas at a pressure of 16.4kP a.
This lamp was constructed at the LAPLACE lab in Universite Paul Sabatier in Toulouse
France. The UV emitted from the XeCl gas is at a wavelength of 308nm which is easy
to measure using a UV-B radiation detector. Xe gas was not used in the lamp because
it is very hard to measure its UV output. The UV emitted by the Xe gas is at 172nm
wavelength which is highly absorbed by the air and transformed into ozone. Besides, the
dielectric material used (silica glass) has a low transmittance at this 172nm wavelength.
The lamp has a coaxial geometry with the dimensions given in figure 4.31. It has a
dielectric capacitance of 666pF using silica glass as the barrier and a gap capacitance
of 70pF with a gap of 8.5mm. Using the design flow chart in figure 4.21 and the FVM
Silica glass tube, ext.

Silica glass tube, ext.
diam. 43mm, wi. 1,5mm
diam. 23mm, wi. 1,5mm
Welded at both ends on
Open at both ends
the inner tube
d=8.5mm
40mm 40mm
700mm
Figure 4.31: Geometry of the DBD lamp used in the experiment
model developed in chapter 2, a design for the proposed driver has been developed. This
design has the parameters shown in table 4.2 and the design variables obtained from the
design algorithm are shown in table 4.3.
Table 4.2: Design parameters for the proposed DBD driver
Parameter Value
Vdc1 (V ) 435
Vdc2 (V ) 109
Imax (A) 60
P Wv (μs) 1.25
P Wc (μs) 1
RR(kV /μs) 40
Fsmax (kHz) 100
Table 4.3: Design variables for the proposed DBD driver
Parameter Value
ton (μs) 1.25
Lp (μH) 9.1
n 11
k 0.97
Vrec (max)(V ) 1200
Since the XeCl gas model was not available, these values were obtained using the FVM
model developed in chapter 2 using Xe as the gas in the gap.
The difference in the simulation results will be due to the effect of the Cl2 gas which
has the ability to attach electrons. The consequence of this is a reduction in the equivalent
conductance of the plasma because of the low mobility of the negatively charged Cl2 ions.
However, this will not affect the general behavior of the waveforms as the percentage of
the Cl2 is small compared to the Xe gas used in the lamp.
The DBD lamp FVM model was only developed in MATLAB, therefore the differential
equations describing the driver had to be formulated. The leakage inductance of the
transformers was neglected in the equations to simplify the driver modeling process. This
simplification can be justified because the transformer design requires a high coupling
factor (0.97) and therefore the leakage inductance can be neglected with respect to the
magnetizing inductance.
Figures 4.32-4.37 show the voltage and current of the DBD lamp and the inductor
currents as obtained from the FVM model using 400 volumes and only 16 volumes as
described in chapter 3. Figures 4.35 and 4.36 also show the plasma voltage and the total
7000
16 Vol
400 Vol
6000
5000
4000
3000
2000
(V)
DBD
V
1000
-1000
-2000
-3000
-4000
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 1.2 1.4 1.6 1.8 2
t(sec) x 10
-5
Figure 4.32: DBD Voltage obtained for the proposed driver using MATLAB
electron density in the plasma as obtained from the simulation using 400 volumes respec-
tively. The total electron density in figure 4.36 shows three points where breakdown
occurs. The first point corresponds to the primary discharge during the first current
pulse. The second breakdown point is due to the opposite current pulse (secondary dis-
charge). The breakdown voltage during this second discharge is smaller as seen from
figure 4.35 due to the remaining volume charges and the accumulated surface charges
from the primary discharge. The accumulated surface charges produce an electrical field
which is added to the external field applied during the second current pulse. Also, the
remaining volume electrons act as seed electrons for the secondary discharge. These two
conditions help in achieving the breakdown at lower voltage level. A third breakdown is
8
16 Vol
400 Vol
6
2
iDBD(A)
-2
-4
-6
-8
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 1.2 1.4 1.6 1.8 2
t(sec) x 10
-5
Figure 4.33: DBD Current obtained for the proposed driver using MATLAB
6
16 Vol
400 Vol
4
im1(A)
-2
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 1.2 1.4 1.6 1.8 2
-5
x 10
4
im2(A)
-2
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 1.2 1.4 1.6 1.8 2
t(sec) x 10
-5
Figure 4.34: Inductor Currents obtained for the proposed driver using MATLAB
3000
2000
1000
plasma
0
V
-1000
-2000
-3000
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 1.2 1.4 1.6 1.8 2
t(sec) -5
x 10
Figure 4.35: Plasma Voltage obtained for the proposed driver using MATLAB
15
x 10
2.5
1.5
N (m-2)
e
0.5
0
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 1.2 1.4 1.6 1.8 2
t(sec) -5
x 10
Figure 4.36: Total Electron Density obtained for the proposed driver using MATLAB
also noticed which is due to the first voltage oscillation after the second current pulse.
From figures 4.32-4.37, the design parameters values are measured and given in table
4.4. All of the design parameters were nearly achieved except for the rate of rise RR.
The reason for the difference in the rate of rise obtained from the simulations compared
to the designed for value is due to the resistance of the plasma. The design equations for
the rate of rise were derived based on infinite resistance for the plasma but as seen from
figure 4.36, there is still residual electron density remaining from the previous cycle. This
residual resistance connected in parallel to the gap capacitance will decrease the rate of
rise obtained across the lamp.
Table 4.4: Measured design parameters for the proposed DBD driver
Parameter Value
P Wv (μs) 1.25
P Wc (μs) 1.12
RR(kV /μs) 30
Fsmax (kHz) 100
To show the effect of the recovery voltage on the lamp voltage and current and on the
transformers’ currents, figures 4.37, 4.38 and 4.39 illustrate these variables for different
recovery voltages. As expected, increasing the recovery voltage increases the available
dead time for the same operating frequency. Also, with higher recovery voltage the
transformers’ currents reach zero faster thus allowing the converter to operate at higher
frequencies.
To model the power supply circuit in more details, the circuit simulation software
SIMETRIX was used to model the whole system again but using a simplified model for
the DBD lamp. The DBD lamp was modeled using the approach given in [72]. The
plasma conductance is represented in this model using the following equation:
dG Vth − |vgas | −1
= K1 (1 + exp( )) − K2 G + K3 |igas | (4.61)
dt ΔV
This equation contains two generation terms: the first term is related to the breakdown of
the gas as soon as the voltage exceeds the breakdown voltage Vth . The second generation
term in equation 4.61 depends on the gas current. In this lamp the breakdown voltage
6000
1200V
600V
200V
4000
2000
(V)
DBD
0
V
-2000
-4000
-6000
0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5 4 4.5
t(sec) x 10
-5
Figure 4.37: DBD voltage for different recovery voltages obtained using MATLAB
8
1200V
600V
200V
6
2
iDBD(A)
-2
-4
-6
-8
0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3
t(sec) x 10
-5
Figure 4.38: DBD current for different recovery voltages obtained using MATLAB
6
1200V
600V
4 200V
im1(A)
2
-2
0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5 4 4.5
-5
x 10
4
im2(A)
-2
0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5 4 4.5
t(sec) x 10
-5
Figure 4.39: Transformer currents for different recovery voltages obtained using MAT-
LAB
was estimated to be 3kV from figure 4.35. The recombination term is characterized by
an exponential decay behaviour. K1 , K2 , K3 and ΔV are constant coefficients. The
constants in equation 4.61 are obtained by fitting the waveforms of the model from [72]
to the waveforms obtained from the proposed FVM model. The input power to the lamp
and the dead time in the voltage waveform were used as the metrics in the fitting process.
The input power obtained from the FVM model is 425W with a dead time of 30μs for a
25kHz operating frequency.
The full model of the power supply including the leakage inductance of the trans-
formers with a coupling factor of 0.97 is used in the SIMETRIX simulation. The input
power obtained from this simulation was found to be 417W for the 25kHz operation.
The waveforms obtained for the DBD voltage and current and the primary and secondary
transformers’ currents are shown in figures 4.40 and 4.41 respectively. Figure 4.40 shows
that the DBD voltage and current still have the same waveform as obtained from the
FVM model as shown in figures 4.32 and 4.33. The only difference is the peak voltage
of the DBD lamp. The peak DBD voltage was not clamped during the positive current
pulse and this can be attributed to the voltage drop across the leakage inductances and
any device resistance added for numerical stability by the SIMETRIX software.
iDBD / A
0
-2
-4
-6
4
VDBD / kV
-2
-4 42 44 46 48 50 52 54 56 58 60
Time/uSecs 2uSecs/div
Figure 4.40: DBD Voltage and Current from SIMETRIX
4.7 Summary
The DBD driver proposed in this work was presented in this chapter. The main draw-
backs of the previously proposed drivers were identified in section 4.2. Based on these
drawbacks, the main requirements of the proposed driver are as follows:
• The driver should be able to supply a controlled current waveform to the DBD lamp
because of its capacitive nature. An advantage of the current controlled driver is
the ability to choose the maximum current in the driver from the design stage as
compared to the voltage source based drivers.
• The voltage rate of rise was determined to be a very important factor in maximizing
the efficiency of the lamp therefore, the proposed driver should provide the means
of controlling the lamp voltage rate of rise.
• The driver should provide complete decoupling between the lamp and the trans-
formers to produce a dead time with constant voltage across the lamp. During
60
50 5
40 4
ip2 / A
is2 / A
30 3
20 2
10 1
-0 -0
50 5
40 4
ip1 / A
is1 / A
30 3
20 2
10 1
42 44 46 48 50 -0 42 44 46 48 50 52 54 56 58 60
Time/uSecs 2uSecs/div Time/uSecs 2uSecs/div
(a) Primary Currents (b) Secondary Currents

Figure 4.41: Transformer Currents from SIMETRIX
the dead time the free charges get the chance to redistribute uniformly across the
gap. This is important in producing a diffuse discharge which increases the lamp
efficiency.
The proposed driver topology consists of two flyback transformers each with two
switches and two clamping diodes. The clamping diodes were used to eliminate any over-
voltages across the switches due to the energy stored in the leakage inductance of the
transformers. The peak current is determined by the on-time of the switches. The peak
current is used to control the DBD lamp voltage rate of rise. The current pulse width
is determined by the equivalent lamp capacitance and the transformer’s magnetizing
inductance and turns ratio. The voltage pulse width is equal to the on-time of the
switches. The analysis of the different operating intervals was shown and the governing
equations were derived in section 4.3.
A design algorithm and flowchart for the driver were also given in section 4.4. This
design flowchart uses the FVM based DBD lamp model developed in chapter 2. The
model was used to determine the actual maximum voltage across the DBD and based on
that the final design of the driver was obtained as given in section 4.6. A simplified driver
model was used with the FVM model to simulate the complete system in MATLAB. Since
the FVM based model was only implemented in MATLAB, a detailed model for the driver
was also simulated in SIMETRIX with another DBD circuit model. The parameters of
this other model were obtained by fitting the results obtained from the FVM based model.
The proposed driver requires a number of energy recovery converters to produce the
two voltage sources needed in the proposed topology (Vdc2 and Vrec ). Therefore, a two
switch flyback converter has been analyzed in this chapter to perform this task. The
small signal model of the energy recovery converter has been derived using the state
space averaging approach. This small signal model is needed to design a controller for
this converter. Good agreement between the waveforms obtained from the small signal
model and from the circuit simulation has been obtained as illustrated in section 4.5.
Chapter 5
Experimental Results
5.1 Introduction
In order to prove the concept of the DBD driver developed in chapter 4 and to ver-
ify the modeling procedure described in chapter 2, a prototype of the driver has been
implemented using the design given in section 4.6 and tested on the XeCl DBD lamp
described in the same section. The experimental setup is described in the next section
and then the results obtained are analyzed in section 5.3. In section 5.4, the proposed
driver is compared to a voltage source based driver to show the validity of the current
controlled driver concept. Finally, the model developed in chapter 2 is verified against
the experimental results.
5.2 Experimental Setup

The implemented prototype has the same circuit topology as the equivalent circuit shown
in figure 5.1. Each of the voltage sources (Vdc2 and Vrec ) shown in red in figure 5.1 is
supposed to consist of a capacitor connected to the main DC bus Vdc1 through an energy
recovery converter as shown in figure 5.2. However, the energy recovery circuits used
were not implemented in the prototype. Instead two power supplies with resistive loads,
to dissipate the recovered energy, were connected to produce these voltage levels. A list
of the devices used in the prototype is as follows:
1. The MOSFETs used are the Infineon SPA20N60C3 rated for 62A pulsed current
and 600V . To achieve the maximum current Imax of 60A with some safety margin
136
Chapter 5. Experimental Results 137
two MOSFETs were placed in parallel for each switch (Q1a , Q1b , Q2a and Q2b ).
2. The diodes used on the primary sides of the transformers are the CREE CSD08060
Silicon Carbide (SiC) Schottky diodes. These diodes are rated at 600V and 33A
peak forward pulsed current. Two of these diodes are placed in parallel for each
diode location (D1a , D1b , D2a and D2b ) to withstand the Imax = 60A peak current in
the driver. Since this driver is intended to work at high frequencies up to 100kHz,
it is required to reduce the reverse recovery losses of the diodes as much as possible.
Schottky diodes were selected because they are majority carrier devices hence the
reverse recovery losses are eliminated. This cannot be achieved with the minority
carrier p − i − n diodes because the reverse recovery losses of these devices are very
high at high frequencies. The reason for using the SiC Schottky diodes is their
high breakdown voltage as compared to the Silicon (Si) based diodes. Another
important feature of Schottky diodes is their positive temperature coefficient which
makes the parallel operation of these diodes possible without thermal runaway.
3. The diodes used on the secondary sides of the transformers are SiC Schottky diodes
IDT02S60C from Infineon. These diodes are rated at 600V and 7.5A peak forward
current. The reverse voltage seen by the diodes D1s and D2s from the simulations
is in the range of nearly 6kV . However, due to the resonance associated with
the inter-winding capacitance and the leakage inductance of the transformers, the
reverse voltage across the diodes can reach higher values. For more details on this
resonance phenomenon the reader is referred to Appendix E. Therefore, 14 diodes
are placed in series for each diode location (D1s and D2s ) to have about 8.4kV
reverse voltage across these diodes.
4. The transformers used in the prototype were designed based on the design proce-
dure given in Appendix D. The core used is the E-core ET D59 from Ferroxcube
with a 3C94 Ferrite. The secondary winding is interleaved between two primary
layers to reduce the leakage inductance. The insulation material used in the trans-
formers is polypropylene with a dielectric constant r ≈ 2 and a dissipation factor
of approximately 10−4 . It is essential to use an insulation material with the lowest
possible permittivity to minimize the inter-winding capacitance as much as possible.
However, this material should have a low dissipation factor to reduce the amount
of dielectric losses produced in the transformer due to the high electric field and
high frequency operation. Polypropylene is a non-polar material and therefore it is

characterized by a low dissipation factor at high frequencies. The transformers are
fan cooled to dissipate the losses and avoid any excessive temperature rise. Table
5.1 shows the main parameters for each of these transformers.
Table 5.1: Parameters of the designed Transformer
Parameter Value
Nprim 6
Nsec 66
Parallel primary wires 4
dprim−sec(mm) 3.06
k 0.98
Cprim−sec(pF ) 50
Lp (μH) 9.4
lg (mm) 1.8
The prototype was implemented by Nedap Light Controls in the Netherlands based
on the proposed design. A picture for the implemented prototype is shown in figure 5.3.
The board contains the MOSFETS with the bootstrap driver circuits. The bootstrap
circuits are used to drive the high side MOSFETs in the DBD driver. The bootstrap
driver utilizes a charged capacitor to raise the level of the gating signal to the voltage level
of the MOSFET source. The board also contains the primary side diodes. The secondary
side diodes were placed off the board on insulating paper so that the diodes were accessible
and the number placed in series could be easily modified. The easy access to the secondary
side diodes was required because of the uncertainty in the reverse voltage that will occur
across these diodes. This reverse voltage depends on the resonance associated with
the inter-winding capacitance and leakage inductance of the transformer. Since these
parasitics are not accurately known, it was preferred to place an overestimated number
of diodes in series and have easy access to change the number during the experiment
based on the actual measurement.
The following signals were measured during the experiment:
1. DBD lamp voltage VDBD

idc2 iD2a
iD1a
Vdc2
Q1a i2p Q2a
i1p
D1S i1s i2s D2S
T1 T2
D1b D1a D2a

Vdc1 vs1 vs2
Vrec
D2b
DBD
Q1b Q2b
Module 1 Module 2
Figure 5.1: Circuit diagram of the proposed DBD driver
Energy
Recovery Vdc2
Converter 1
Vdc1
Energy
Recovery Vrec
Converter 2
Figure 5.2: Implementation of the voltage sources Vdc2 and Vrec

2. DBD lamp current iDBD
3. Primary voltage and current of both transformers
4. Optical output poptical using the Siemens Silicon visible light photodiode BPW 21
5. Output UV density of the DBD lamp in mW/cm2 using the Gigahertz-Optik UV

Optometer P9710
Figure 5.3: Experimental Prototype
A picture for the lamp setup is shown in figure 5.4. The lamp was put into an
enclosure to limit the UV radiation emitted from the lamp to the outside environment.
The lamp needs to be cooled during operation and therefore an air pump is connected
through the hose as shown in the picture. Figure 5.5 shows the temporal waveforms
of the lamp voltage, lamp current and the optical power of the lamp for the following
operating conditions: 50kHz operating frequency, DC voltage Vdc1 of 435V and Vdc2 of
109V .
It can be noticed from figure 5.5 that the waveform of the optical output follows
the current waveform which was also mentioned in [57]. This can be considered as an
advantage of the current source driver because the temporal change of the optical pulses
can be controlled by the driver current as opposed to the voltage source drivers where
1
Lamp enclosure
2
Cooling hose
Figure 5.4: Lamp setup
4
x 10
1
0.5
(V)
DBD
0
V
-0.5
-1
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 1.2
-5
x 10
10
5
iDBD(A)
-5
-10
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 1.2
-5
x 10
-3
x 10
10
5
optical
p
-5
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 1.2
t(sec) -5
x 10
Figure 5.5: Experimental waveforms of the DBD lamp: DBD voltage VDBD , DBD current
iDBD and DBD optical output Poptical
there is no direct control over the lamp current. Figure 5.6 shows a picture for the lamp
while it is ignited. The discharge has a large number of overlapping filaments therefore
it can be described as quasi diffuse discharge. Each filament is characterized by a thin
channel extending from the cathode to the anode. At the anode, this channel starts to
get wider due to the accumulation of the electrons near the dielectric surface causing the
discharge to extend also in the axial direction near the cathode.
Figure 5.6: Picture of the ignited DBD lamp
The transformers’ primary voltages and currents are shown in figure 5.7. The os-
cillation appearing on the transformers’ primary currents is due to the inter-winding
capacitance of the transformer. For more details about this phenomenon and a way to
reduce its effect, the reader is referred to Appendix E.
5.3 Results and Analysis

This section shows the different results obtained during the experiment. Tests were
conducted at Nedap Light Controls in the Netherlands. To assess the efficiency of this
system, there are three different efficiencies that have to be monitored.
Figure 5.8 shows a block diagram of the complete DBD lamp-driver system which
is based on the driver circuit diagram shown in figure 5.1. The system consists of five
Figure 5.7: Experimental waveforms of the transformers: T1 primary voltage (top wave-
form) (0.5kV /div), T2 primary voltage (2nd from top waveform) (0.5kV /div), T1 primary
current (3rd from top waveform) (50A/div) and T2 primary current (bottom waveform)
(50A/div) with (1μs/div)
i1p i1s iDBD
Module 1 2 vDBD DBD lamp

Șmod1
vs1 Șlamp
iERC1
iERC2
iin idc2 iERC1

Energy
1 iD1a Recovery
AC PFC Vdc1 idc2 Vdc2 Converter
mains ȘERC1
iD2a
i2p i2s iERC2
Energy
Module 2 Recovery
Șmod2
vs2 Vrec Converter
ȘERC2
Figure 5.8: Block diagram of the DBD lamp-driver system

subsystems: Module 1, Module 2, two energy recovery converters with efficiencies ηERC1
and ηERC2 and the DBD lamp with efficiency ηlamp . The first energy recovery converter is
used to recover the energy absorbed by the second voltage level Vdc2 . The second energy
recovery converter delivers the energy absorbed by the voltage source Vrec in figure 5.1
back to the DC bus. The red lines in diagram 5.8 correspond to the flow of the recovered
energy back to the main DC bus. The green lines correspond to the flow of the power
from the source to the load.
The first efficiency to be considered is the lamp efficiency ηlamp . It is given by:
PU V
ηlamp = (5.1)
PDBD
where PU V is the lamp UV output power (for more details on calculating the UV power
refer to appendix F) and PDBD is the lamp electrical input power.
The second efficiency to be considered is the driver efficiency ηconv . To derive an
equation for the driver efficiency, the power flow shown in the diagram of figure 5.8 has
to be traced. By applying Kirchoff’s current law at node 1 shown in figure 5.8, the
following equation is obtained:
iin + iERC1 + iERC2 + idc2 = i1p + i2p (5.2)
Averaging equation 5.2 over one cycle Ts and multiplying it by Vdc1 the following
power balance equation is derived:
Pin + ηERC1 Prec1 + ηERC2 Prec2 + Vdc1 idc2

Ts = P1p + P2p (5.3)
where idc2
Ts is the average of idc2 over the period Ts , Prec1 = Vdc2 idc2
Ts and Prec2 =
Vrec i2s
Ts . P1p and P2p are given by:
P1p = P1s +(Vdc1 +Vdc2 ) iD1a

Ts +Ploss1 = vDBD i1s
Ts +(Vdc1 +Vdc2 ) iD1a
Ts +Ploss1 (5.4)
P2p = −P2s +(Vdc1 +Vdc2 ) iD2a

Ts +Ploss2 = − (vDBD − Vrec )i2s
Ts +(Vdc1 +Vdc2 ) iD2a
Ts +Ploss2
(5.5)
where Ploss1 and Ploss2 are the losses in modules 1 and 2 respectively. After substituting
back in equation 5.3 the following equation is obtained:
Pin + ηERC1 Prec1 + ηERC2 Prec2 = PDBD + Prec1 + Prec2 + Ploss1 + Ploss2 (5.6)
where PDBD = vDBD iDBD

Ts = vDBD (i1s − i2s )
Ts based on Kirchoff’s current law at
node 2 in figure 5.8.
Therefore the efficiency of the driver ηconv can be defined as:

PDBD + Prec1 + Prec2
ηconv = (5.7)
Pin + ηERC1 Prec1 + ηERC2 Prec2
where Pin is the electrical input power to the complete system.
The third efficiency is the overall system efficiency, which is the ratio between the UV
output power PU V and the electrical input power Pin . Using equations 5.1 and 5.7, the
overall system efficiency can be calculated and is found to be given by:

PU V Prec1 Prec2
ηsys = = ηlamp ηconv − (1 − ηconv ηERC1 ) − (1 − ηconv ηERC2 ) (5.8)
Pin Pin Pin
As mentioned at the beginning of this chapter, the energy recovery converters were
not implemented in the experimental prototype. Therefore, the recovered powers Prec1
and Prec2 were not fed back to the input of the driver. Hence, the power produced
by the voltage source Vdc1 in figure 5.1 was measured to calculate the driver efficiency.
The power PV dc1 is equal to the sum Pin + ηERC1 Prec1 + ηERC2 Prec2 , therefore the driver
efficiency and system efficiency are given by:
PDBD + Prec1 + Prec2
ηconv = (5.9)
PV dc1

PU V (1 − ηconv ηERC1 )Prec1 + (1 − ηconv ηERC2 )Prec2
ηsys = = ηlamp ηconv − (5.10)
Pin PV dc1 − ηERC1 Prec1 − ηERC2 Prec2
As seen from equation 5.10, calculation of the system efficiency requires the energy
recovery converter efficiencies ηERC1 and ηERC2 . In the remaining of this chapter, a value
of 0.85 is assumed for these efficiencies. This value is chosen based on an estimate for
the losses in the energy recovery converters and it can be set as a minimum requirement
in the energy recovery converter design.
In the following subsections, the effect of changing the different control variables on
the lamp input power, lamp efficiency and driver efficiency will be demonstrated.
5.3.1 Effect of on-time ton

The on-time ton was changed during the experiment between the values of 0.5μs to 1.25μs
assuming a DC voltage Vdc1 = 435V , a second voltage level Vdc2 = 0V , a recovery voltage
Vrec = 1200V and a frequency Fs = 25kHz. ton is the on-time of the MOSFETs which is
also equal to the voltage pulse width. Figure 5.9 shows the relation between the on-time
and the input power to the DBD lamp. The input power increases in a nearly linear
fashion with the on-time as expected from figure 3.10 in chapter 3. This increase is due
to the increase in the peak current of the pulses and therefore more energy is deposited
in the lamp as the on-time is increased.
220
200
180
160
140
(W)
DBD
P
120
100
80
60
40
0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1 1.1 1.2 1.3
t (Ps)
on
Figure 5.9: Effect of ton on the lamp input electrical power
In figure 5.10(a) the lamp efficiency ηlamp is illustrated. The lamp efficiency decreases
as the on-time of the switches is increased which is not what was expected as shown in
figure 3.11. However, this might be due to the filamentary discharge that was obtained
in the experiments. The simulation results produced in chapter 3 are more accurate in
the case of a diffuse discharge as the simulations were only performed using a 1-D model.
A reason for not obtaining the diffuse discharge mode of operation might be related to
the gas used in the experiment (XeCl).
A high voltage rate of rise is not the only reason for obtaining a diffuse discharge.
Additionally, there have to be enough seed electrons uniformly distributed across the gap
before the breakdown occurs. In the XeCl gas, the Cl gas has the ability to attach elec-
trons and this will cause the seed electron density to diminish before the next discharge.
Therefore, the discharge will evolve into a form of filamentary type as obtained in the
experiment.
The driver efficiency ηconv is shown in figure 5.10(b). The driver efficiency increases
with the on-time of the switches as more energy is deposited in the lamp.
21 78
20 77
19 76
18 75
Klamp(%)
(%)
17 74
conv
16 73
K
15 72
14 71
13 70
12 69
0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1 1.1 1.2 1.3 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1 1.1 1.2 1.3
ton(Ps) ton(Ps)
(a) lamp efficiency (b) driver efficiency

Figure 5.10: Effect of ton on the lamp and driver efficiencies
The effect of the on-time ton on the DBD voltage is also shown in figure 5.11. The
voltage waveform for ton = 0.75μs and ton = 1.25μs shows the difference in the voltage
rate of rise. Increasing the on-time of the switches increases the voltage rate of rise. As
a consequence, the breakdown occurs at a higher voltage and therefore more energy is
deposited in the lamp before the self extinguishing effect of the DBD lamp takes place.
This explains the increase in the driver efficiency with the on-time since more power is
delivered to the lamp.
Figure 5.12 shows the relation between the on-time and the DBD voltage rate of rise
RR(kV /μs) obtained during the experiments. The maximum achieved rate of rise during
the experiments was equal to 41kV /μs for a 1.25μs on-time. This is higher than what was
predicted from the model as shown in section 4.7. This increase may be also attributed
back to the high electron attachment coefficient of the Cl2 molecules,which implies that
some of the free electrons will get attached to the Cl2 molecules. The negatively charged
heavy Cl− ions have a lower mobility than the electrons so this will lead to a decrease
in the conductivity of the plasma. Therefore, the plasma resistance is higher during the
initial charging period which will increase the DBD voltage rate of rise because more of
the charging energy goes to charging the gap capacitance.
ton=1.25us
6000
t =0.75us
on
5000
4000
(V)
DBD
3000
V
2000
1000
2.4 2.6 2.8 3 3.2 3.4 3.6 3.8 4 4.2 4.4

t(sec) x 10
-6
Figure 5.11: Effect of ton on DBD voltage
45
40
35
RR(kV/Ps)
30
25
20
15
0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1 1.1 1.2 1.3
t (Ps)
on
Figure 5.12: Effect of ton on RR

5.3.2 Recovery voltage effect

The recovery voltage has also been changed to determine its effect on the input power
and the efficiency of the DBD lamp. Figure 5.13 shows the input power to the lamp as
a function of the recovery voltage for an operating frequency of 25kHz, DC voltage Vdc1
of 435V and Vdc2 = 0V . Increasing the recovery voltage decreases the input power to the
lamp because the current in the lamp is extinguished in a fewer number of cycles and
also the amplitude of the oscillations is lower for a higher recovery voltage. However,
the increased input power comes at the expense of a lower lamp efficiency for lower
recovery voltages, as shown in figure 5.14(a). This is what was demonstrated in chapter
3, where the effect of the oscillations was modeled in section 3.5. In figure 5.14(b) the
driver efficiency is shown as a function of Vrec . The effect of Vrec is minor on the driver
efficiency.
225
220
215
210
(W)
DBD
205
P
200
195
190
185
800 900 1000 1100 1200 1300 1400 1500 1600
V (V)
rec
Figure 5.13: Effect of Vrec on the lamp input power
The effect of the recovery voltage on the DBD lamp voltage is shown in figure 5.15.
The voltage across the lamp at the beginning of the cycle is lower for the lower recovery
voltage. For a lower recovery voltage, the lamp current flows for a longer period of
time and therefore more of the stored energy in the dielectric capacitance after the first
discharge is dissipated in the plasma or recovered by the energy recovery circuit (ERC).
13 77.6
77.4
77.2
77
12.5
76.8
(%)
(%)
conv
lamp
76.6
K
K
76.4
12
76.2
76
75.8
11.5 75.6
800 900 1000 1100 1200 1300 1400 1500 1600 800 900 1000 1100 1200 1300 1400 1500 1600
Vrec(V) Vrec(V)

Figure 5.14: Effect of Vrec on the lamp and driver efficiencies
6000
V =1200V
rec
Vrec=800V
4000
2000
(V)
DBD
0
V
-2000
-4000
-6000
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 1.2
t(sec) x 10
-5
Figure 5.15: Effect of Vrec on DBD voltage

5.3.3 Operating frequency effect

The operating frequency has been changed to determine its effect on the driver efficiency,
DBD lamp input power and efficiency. Figure 5.16 shows the input power to the lamp as
a function of the operating frequency for a DC voltage Vdc1 of 435V , Vrec of 1200V and
Vdc2 = 0V . The input power nearly increases linearly with frequency. It was shown in
chapter 3 in figure 3.17 that shorter dead time degrades the lamp efficiency. A shorter
dead time is obtained when the driver is operated at a higher frequency for the same
voltage pulse width. The same behavior is also obtained in the experiments as given in
figure 5.17(a) where the lamp efficiency drops as the operating frequency is increased.
On the other hand, the driver efficiency reaches a maximum at about 25kHz.
400
350
300
(W)
DBD
250
P
200
150
100
15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50
F (kHz)
s
Figure 5.16: Effect of Fs on the lamp input power
5.3.4 Effect of second voltage level Vdc2

The second voltage level Vdc2 is used to speed the energy transfer process between the
primary and secondary of the transformers and also to provide enough blocking voltage
for the diodes on the primaries of the transformers. Figures 5.18 and 5.19 show the effect
of the second voltage level on the lamp voltage and current. In figure 5.18, the DBD
13.4 77.5
13.2
77
13
76.5
12.8
12.6
76
(%)
(%)
conv
lamp
12.4
K
K
75.5
12.2
12
75
11.8
74.5
11.6
11.4 74
15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50
Fs(kHz)
F (kHz)
s

Figure 5.17: Effect of Fs on the lamp and driver efficiencies
voltage reaches a higher peak because of the increased blocking voltage of the primary
diodes of transformer T1 . The higher blocking voltage also affected the current pulse
injected in the DBD lamp shown in figure 5.19. The current pulse with Vdc2 = 0 is
shorter and this is because the diodes on the primary side get forward biased and the
current starts to flow again on the primary side of the transformer. Therefore, higher
Vdc2 will assist in depositing more energy in the lamp.
Figures 5.20 and 5.21 show the transformers’ primary currents for both cases. In figure
5.20, there is a second triangle shape in the primary currents of both transformers which
appears due to the forward biasing of the diodes on the primary side of the transformers.
These extra triangles are not seen in figure 5.21 because there is enough blocking voltages
for the primary side diodes.
Table 5.2 shows a comparison between the values obtained when Vdc2 is changed
assuming the following operating conditions: 50kHz operating frequency and 1.25μs
on-time. When Vdc2 = 0V less power is delivered to the lamp because the diodes on
the primary side of the transformer are forward biased and the stored energy in the
transformer is delivered back to the DC bus. The delivered power to the lamp and
the produced UV power is increased when Vdc2 = 109V but this occurs at lower lamp
efficiency. On the other hand, the driver efficiency increases when Vdc2 = 109V because
no current flows on the primary side of the transformer and more of the stored energy is
fed to the lamp. If the current flows again on the primary side, the losses in the driver
8000
Vdc1=435V, Vdc2=0
Vdc1=435V, Vdc2=109V
6000
4000
2000
(V)
DBD
V
-2000
-4000
-6000
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 1.2
t(sec) -5
x 10
Figure 5.18: Effect of Vdc2 on DBD voltage
6
Vdc1=435V, Vdc2=0
Vdc1=435V, Vdc2=109V
2
iDBD(A)
-2
-4
-6
0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1
t(sec) -5
x 10
Figure 5.19: Effect of Vdc2 on DBD current

Figure 5.20: Experimental waveforms of the transformers when Vdc2 = 0: T1 pri-

mary voltage (top waveform) (0.5kV /div), T2 primary voltage (2nd from top waveform)
(0.5kV /div), T1 primary current (3rd from top waveform) (50A/div) and T2 primary
current (bottom waveform) (50A/div) with (2μs/div)
Figure 5.21: Experimental waveforms of the transformers when Vdc2 = 109V : T1 pri-
mary voltage (top waveform) (0.5kV /div), T2 primary voltage (2nd from top waveform)
(0.5kV /div), T1 primary current (3rd from top waveform) (50A/div) and T2 primary
current (bottom waveform) (50A/div) with (2μs/div)
will increase while less power is deposited in the lamp.
Table 5.2: Effect of Vdc2 on the driver performance
Parameter Vdc2 = 0 Vdc2 = 109V

PDBD (W ) 375.6 640
PU V (mW/cm2 ) 51.6 57
ηlamp (%) 11.5 7.4
ηconv (%) 74 78.7
P Wc (μs) 0.53 0.63
5.4 Comparison with a voltage controlled driver

A voltage source based DBD driver was also implemented to determine the effectiveness
of the proposed current controlled driver in contrast to a voltage controlled driver. This
voltage controlled driver is based on the circuit topology described in [73] which consists
of a full bridge converter connected to the DBD lamp through a step-up transformer as
shown in figure 5.22. Switches (Q1 and Q4 ) are turned on for a period of time (550ns).
During this time period a positive voltage is applied to the lamp. Then, after a time
delay, the other switches (Q2 and Q3 ) are turned on for the same time period to apply
the negative voltage pulse to the lamp.
Q2
Q1
1:n
DBD
Vdc Lamp
Q3 Q4
Figure 5.22: Full bridge Driver topology
Figure 5.23 shows a comparison between the lamp input power obtained for the two
drivers for the same UV output power density. All measurements were performed at a
435V DC bus voltage and a 25kHz operating frequency. The lamp produces higher UV
power density for the same input power when excited by the proposed driver as compared
to the voltage source driver excitation. Therefore, the lamp efficiency produced by the
proposed current controlled driver is higher than the lamp efficiency produced by the
voltage controlled driver.
600
Proposed DBD Driver

Full Bridge Driver
500
400
(W)
DBD
300
P
200
100
0
10 15 20 25 30 35
2
PUV(mW/cm )
Figure 5.23: Lamp input electrical power: comparison between the proposed driver (solid
line) and the full bridge driver (dashed line)
The driver efficiency of the voltage source driver is however higher than the proposed
current source driver as shown in figure 5.24. This was to be expected because of the
higher number of components and the hard switching of the MOSFETs in the proposed
driver at turn off. The full bridge driver in figure 5.22 turns on under zero current,
as is the case with the proposed driver. But due to the resonance between the lamp
capacitance and the transformer leakage inductance in the full bridge driver, the turn off
instant can be chosen to be when the current through the switch is very close to zero
and therefore the switching loss at turn off is avoided. The same transformer was used
in the full bridge converter but with a smaller air gap to produce a higher magnetizing
inductance (The magnetizing inductance used in the experiments was 31μH). The value
of the magnetizing inductance was chosen to avoid saturation of the transformer.
90
85
K(%)
conv 80
75
Proposed DBD Driver

Full Bridge Driver
70
65
10 15 20 25 30 35
2
PUV(mW/cm )
Figure 5.24: Driver Efficiency: comparison between the proposed driver (solid line) and
the full bridge driver (dashed line)
Figure 5.25 shows the system efficiency for both drivers based on the assumption that
the UV power density is uniform for both drivers. The system efficiency for the proposed
driver is calculated using equation 5.10 while it is calculated as the ratio between the
UV output and the electrical input power to the system for the voltage source driver.
The voltage source driver produced a higher system efficiency at low UV power densities.
While the proposed current source driver produced a higher system efficiency at high UV
power densities as shown in figure 5.25.
At low UV power densities, the recovered power Prec in the proposed driver is higher
than the lamp input power PDBD therefore a large fraction of the input power to the
system is just circulating and producing losses in the driver. As the power absorbed by
the lamp starts to be higher than the recovered power, the system efficiency increases
to a peak value of 8.5%. Then the system efficiency starts to decrease again due to the
drop in the lamp efficiency at higher UV power densities.
The proposed driver produced a higher system efficiency at higher UV power densities
(> 32mW/cm2 ) compared to the voltage source driver. However, it should be mentioned
that the gain obtained in the system efficiency may not be enough due to the increased
cooling costs for the proposed driver. Nevertheless, the increase in the lamp efficiency
which was predicted using the proposed current controlled driver concept is proved.
12
Proposed DBD Driver
Full Bridge Driver
11
10
9
(%)
8
sys
K
4
10 15 20 25 30 35
2
PUV(mW/cm )
Figure 5.25: System efficiency: comparison between the proposed driver (solid line) and
the full bridge driver (dashed line)
The current controlled driver shows both a primary and secondary discharges while
the voltage source driver only produces a primary discharge as shown in the voltage
waveforms in figure 5.26. This is one of the reasons for the higher lamp efficiency obtained
from the proposed driver. The DBD voltage produced by the voltage source driver suffers
from continued oscillations until the next pulse because there is always a direct coupling
between the lamp and the transformer magnetizing inductance. This is another reason
for the higher lamp efficiency produced by the proposed driver. Figure 5.27 shows the
DBD current for both drivers. The peak current in the voltage source converter is not
predetermined as it depends on the breakdown taking place in the lamp. The peak
current in the proposed driver is one of the inputs to the design algorithm and therefore
it is assured that the driver current will not exceed this predetermined value.
8000
Proposed DBD Driver
Full Bridge Driver
6000
4000
2000
(V)
DBD
V
-2000
-4000
-6000
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 1.2
t(sec) x 10
-5
Figure 5.26: Experimental DBD voltage: comparison between the proposed driver (solid
8
Proposed DBD Driver
Full Bridge Driver
6
2
iDBD(A)
-2
-4
-6
-8
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 1.2
t(sec) x 10
-5
Figure 5.27: Experimental DBD current: comparison between the proposed driver (solid
5.5 FVM Model Verification

In this section, the experimental waveforms obtained are used to verify the accuracy of
the FVM model developed in chapter 2. Figure 5.29 shows the DBD voltage obtained
from FVM simulations using 400 volumes, 16 volumes and the experiment. It is clear that
the simulated waveform using 400 volumes has a similar behavior as the experimental
waveform in terms of the voltage pulse width, the instant at which the discharge occurs,
the oscillations after the second discharge and the voltage at the beginning of the cycle.
The simulated DBD voltage was clamped due to the conduction of the diode on the sec-
ondary of the second transformer and because the leakage inductance of the transformer
was not modeled as stated before. This clamping did not appear in the experimental
waveform due to the presence of the leakage inductance of the transformers.
The waveform obtained using only 16 volumes also has a similar general behavior.
However, it lacks the fine details of the waveform especially during the period of break-
down. In the results obtained using 16 volumes, the conductivity of the plasma is over-
estimated and this results in a lower DBD voltage rate of rise as shown in figure 5.30.
The total electron density during one cycle is shown in figure 5.28 for both 16 and 400
volumes.
The parameter that was not well predicted is the rate of rise of the DBD voltage.
This is probably because Xe was used as the gas in the gap in the simulated model while
the lamp contained a XeCl mixture. The presence of the Cl, which has an electron
attachment capability, will reduce the conductivity of the plasma. Consequently, the
voltage rate of rise obtained experimentally is higher than predicted from the model as
shown in figure 5.30. Figure 5.30 is a zoomed view for the circled part of the voltage
waveform in figure 5.29.
The after-oscillation in the experimental waveform shows higher maximum values
compared to the simulations and this again can be explained by the decreased conduc-
tivity of the XeCl gas which will cause the capacitance of the gap to appear again in
series with the dielectric barrier capacitance. Since the gap capacitance is smaller than
the dielectric capacitance, the equivalent capacitance of the lamp decreases and the peak
voltage increases and so does the frequency of the oscillation.
Figure 5.31 shows also a comparison between the current waveforms. The current
pulse width of the experimental waveform is smaller than the simulated waveform. This
again confirms the reasoning given before that the plasma conductivity is smaller prob-
15
x 10
2.5
400 Volumes
16 Volumes
1.5
N (m-2)
e
0.5
0
0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5 4 4.5
t(sec) x 10
-5
Figure 5.28: Total Electron Density: 400 volumes (solid line) and 16 volumes (dashed
line)
ably to the effect of the Cl gas and therefore the equivalent capacitance of the lamp is
smaller. This causes the current pulse width to be smaller than the pulse width of the
simulated waveform.
Inclusion of the different parasitic elements in the experimental circuit will definitely
impact the waveforms compared to the simulations where these parasitics are not mod-
eled. In a conclusion, the FVM model developed in chapter 2 still provides good qualita-
tive prediction for the waveforms of the lamp. It is expected that agreement between the
simulated and experimental results would have been better had the XeCl gas model been
available. In any case, in the design process of a driver for such a load, the precise details
like the exact instant of breakdown or the exact breakdown voltage are not required.
Only the important features like the peak voltages and currents are required during the
design. The FVM model gives the opportunity to have a general circuit based model for
the DBD lamp that does not require any kind of coefficient identification through exper-
imental curve fitting. Yet the model can provide good estimation of the lamp behavior
when connected to the driver.
8000
Experiment
1 FVM 400 Vol
FVM 16 Vol
6000
4000
2000
(V)
DBD
V
-2000
-4000
-6000
0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1
t(sec) x 10
-5
Figure 5.29: Verification of the FVM model-DBD voltage: Experimental voltage vs FVM
using 400 volumes and 16 volumes
7000
Experiment
FVM 400 Vol
6000 FVM 16 Vol
5000
4000
3000
(V)
DBD
2000
V
1000
-1000
-2000
-3000
2.5 3 3.5 4 4.5
t(sec) x 10
-6
Figure 5.30: Verification of the FVM model-DBD voltage zoomed view: Experimental
voltage vs FVM using 400 volumes and 16 volumes
Experiment
6 FVM 400 Vol
FVM 16 Vol
2
iDBD(A)
-2
-4
-6
0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1

t(sec) x 10
-5
Figure 5.31: Verification of the FVM model-DBD current: Experimental current vs FVM
using 400 volumes and 16 volumes
5.6 Summary
In this chapter, the details of the experimental setup were demonstrated. An analysis
for the results was conducted to evaluate the performance of the proposed driver and the
effect of the different control variables available. The proposed current controlled driver
was also compared to a voltage source driver composed of a full bridge converter. Finally,
the results of the developed model in chapter 2 were compared with the experimental
results.
It was demonstrated that the on-time of the MOSFETs can be used to control the
DBD voltage rate of rise (RR). However, the lamp efficiency decreased as the RR was
increased which is not what was expected. An explanation for this is probably that the
discharge did not occur in a diffuse form and this was evident from the experimental
results. The reason for not achieving a diffuse discharge might be due to the kinetics
of the XeCl gas or due to the operating pressure of the lamp. An essential factor
for achieving the diffuse discharge is the presence of high enough seed electrons before
the rising edge of the lamp voltage. It has been mentioned in [8] , [74] and [75], that
the mixing ratio of the Xe and Cl2 as well as the total operating pressure of the lamp
influences the discharge appearance. In [76] , Helium was added to the XeCl mixture
to achieve a diffuse discharge. However, the amount of Helium that needs to be added
was found to depend on the operating pressure and the waveform of the applied voltage.
Therefore, the maximum output optical power is obtained at different amounts of Helium
depending on partial pressures of the Xe and Cl2 gases.
Through the comparison that was performed with the voltage source driver, it is found
that the current controlled driver produces a higher lamp efficiency over the whole range
of UV power densities obtained during the testing. The system efficiency produced by the
proposed driver is found to be higher than the system efficiency produced by the voltage
controlled driver only at high UV power densities (> 32mW/cm2 ) for a 25kHz operating
frequency. At low UV power densities, the system efficiency of the proposed driver is low
because most of the input power to the system is just circulating in the driver through
the energy recovery converters. While at high UV power densities the fraction of the
input power that is absorbed by the lamp is higher and therefore the system efficiency is
more affected by the lamp efficiency which is higher under the proposed driver compared
to the voltage source driver.
Finally, the results of the 1-D FVM model for the DBD lamp were compared to the
experimental results even though the discharge occured in a filamentary mode which
requires a 2-D model to capture its details. Yet, it was shown that the 1-D FVM model
still produced good agreement with the experimental results. The fluid model used in
the derivation of the DBD lamp model with its different assumptions was also shown to
be suitable in describing the plasma in the DBD lamp. Therefore, this model provides
a means for the driver designer to simulate the whole system without having to do
experimental curve fitting as has been done in the past.
Chapter 6
Conclusions
An accurate model for the Dielectric Barrier Discharge (DBD) lamp which is based on
the actual equations describing the physics of the lamp is essential in terms of character-
izing the lamp and determining the effect of coupling the electrical system to the lamp.
The DBD model developed in this work is based on the set of PDEs derived from the
Boltzmann equation and Poisson’s equation. Therefore it does not depend on any curve
fitting tools. This model helps in determining the sensitivity of the lamp performance
with respect to the different parameters of the electrical waveform.
It was shown that the PDE system describing the physics of the DBD lamp can be
divided into two subsystems. The first subsystem describes the electrical characteristics
of the lamp and it consists of Poisson’s equation and the continuity equations describing
the evolution of the charged particles. The second subsystem is responsible for producing
the optical output and it consists of the continuity equations of the neutral atoms. A one
way coupling between the two subsystems was proved through the simulations using the
FEM software package Comsol. This one way coupling gives the designer the chance to
use only the electrical subsystem during the simulation of the lamp connected to the driver
circuit. Then, an estimate for the optical output can be obtained as a post-processing
step using the results obtained from the electrical subsystem.
Normalization of the resulting ODE system proved to be also very helpful in terms
of speeding up the simulation. The simulation time was nearly halved when the system
equations were normalized. Since all of the plasma problems contain the voltage and
the particle densities as variables, the system matrix will contain numbers with different
orders of magnitude. This might cause problems during the solution therefore normalizing
the equations helps in generating a well conditioned system matrix.
165
Chapter 6. Conclusions 166
A key tool to develop the design procedure of the driver is a circuit based model for
the DBD lamp. However, this model should be simulated as quickly as possible. Two
different approaches to reduce the order of the DBD model have been implemented in
this thesis: the first one depends on reducing the number of volumes used in the Finite
Volume Method(FVM) and it is found that this approach can produce good results
for the electrical behavior of the lamp as verified from the experimental results. The
second approach is based on the Proper Orthogonal Decomposition(POD) technique.
The number of variables were reduced by half when the POD technique was applied to
the FVM model.
This work proposed a current controlled driver to feed the DBD lamp as compared
to the alternative drivers published in the literature. The advantages of the current
controlled driver are mainly:
• The DBD lamp has a capacitive nature and therefore it is better to inject a current
in this type of load as compared to imposing a voltage waveform. Imposing a
voltage on a capacitor results in an uncontrolled current peak.
• For a current controlled driver, the maximum current flowing in the circuit is al-
ready determined from the design procedure which is not the case for the voltage
source driver.
• The current controlled driver gives direct control over the DBD voltage rate of rise
which has a strong influence on the lamp efficiency.
• The optical output pulses are related to the input current pulses as shown in the
experimental results. Hence current controlled driver allows for the control of the
temporal behavior of the optical pulses which is not the case for the voltage con-
trolled driver.
The influence of the different current waveform parameters was investigated in chapter
3 through a number of simulations performed using the 1−D FVM DBD model developed
in chapter 2. A summary of this investigation is given in the following points:
• Increasing the peak value of the current waveform increases the lamp input energy
per cycle proportionally. Higher peak value of the current also increases the lamp
voltage rate of rise which causes an increase in the lamp efficiency until the efficiency
saturates for a current of nearly 5A.
• Increasing the current pulse width P Wc increases the lamp input energy per cycle
proportionally. There is an optimal pulse width which maximizes the lamp effi-
ciency. The value for the optimum current pulse width was found to be around
800nsec.
• Increasing the voltage pulse width P Wv does not impact the input energy per
cycle significantly but the lamp efficiency increases until some maximum is reached.
Longer pulse widths will force operation with smaller frequencies and therefore less
input power to the lamp.
• Increasing the dead time produced after the current pulses does not impact the
input energy per cycle significantly. On the other hand, the lamp efficiency increases
with longer dead times until some level of saturation is achieved. However, the
operation with longer dead time will limit the operating frequency of the lamp and
therefore the input power.
In the different applications of UV radiation, the efficiency of the system depends

on the different subsystems included in the process. Usually the UV lamp efficiency
and the process efficiency (the DNA inactivation capability in the water disinfection
example) are the most crucial efficiencies since they are relatively low (< 20%) compared
to the efficiency of the power electronic driver(> 70%). Therefore, the power electronic
driver proposed in this work was designed to increase the efficiency of the lamp so that
the overall system efficiency can be increased knowing that the driver efficiency could
decrease. However, this proposed design will be constrained by the cost issues as it is a
complicated design with high number of components and increased cooling costs.
By comparing the results of the proposed current controlled driver and the imple-
mented voltage controlled driver, it was found that the current controlled driver produced
higher lamp efficiency over the whole range of UV power densities obtained during the
testing. The overall system efficiency was higher for the current controlled driver only at
high UV power densities(> 32mW/cm2 ) for a 25kHz operating frequency.
The experimental results did not confirm the effect of the rate of rise on the lamp
efficiency as it was found that the efficiency actually dropped with increasing rate of rise.
However, this might be related back to the fact that the discharge produced in the XeCl
lamp was more of a filamentary type and not a diffuse one. Also, since only a 1 − D
model has been developed for the DBD lamp, then its validity is questionable under a
filamentary discharge in determining all of the different phenomena that might affect the
lamp performance.
The experimental results also showed the effect of the inter-winding capacitance of the
flyback transformer especially during the charging period of the transformer. A method
for eliminating the oscillations caused by the resonance between the leakage inductance
and the inter-winding capacitance is proposed in Appendix E.
6.1 Thesis Contributions

The following major original contributions have been made in this thesis:
1. A physics based circuit model for the DBD lamp using the Finite Volume Method
(FVM) has been developed. This model only takes as input the lamp geometry, the
operating pressure and the kinetic model of the gas used in the lamp. This model
can be used to characterize the lamp and to determine the impact of the electrical
waveform on the lamp performance. A reduced order model has also been obtained
which is suitable for the driver design procedure.
2. A current controlled driver for the DBD lamp has been implemented. The ex-
perimental results showed that the prototype of the proposed driver produced the
expected waveforms and hence the concept of such a driver has been proven. In
addition, a design procedure has been formulated which can be used to design the
driver to satisfy the specifications.
The following minor contributions have been presented in this thesis:
1. A normalized FVM model for the plasma has been derived. This normalization
helps in speeding up the simulation time of the model.
2. A reduced order model for the DBD lamp FVM model has been developed using
the Proper Orthogonal Decomposition (POD) technique. It was possible to reduce
the number of variables to nearly one half using the POD technique and yet obtain
nearly the same accuracy for two test cases.
3. A small signal model for the Energy Recovery Converter (ERC) which takes into
account the leakage inductance of the flyback transformer has been developed.
The model has only been verified through simulations. However, this should not
be problematic since the state space averaging method has been used and tested
extensively by others in the literature as in [77] and [71].
4. An improved current based boundary condition for the lamp PDE system that has
not been proposed before. This improved current boundary condition gives the
chance to connect the lamp to an external electrical circuit and model the coupled
system.
6.2 Suggested Future Work

The following work, which is an extension for this thesis, is suggested for the future:
1. The FVM reduced order model obtained from using a minimum number of vol-
umes showed a good result as compared to the solution obtained using hundreds
of volumes and also as verified from the experimental results. More analysis can
be performed on the ODE system to identify the different sources of errors in the
equations and to determine the impact of the number of volumes on these errors
and whether some kind of error cancellation process takes place.
2. More work can be done on obtaining the reduced order model for the DBD lamp. In
this thesis the POD method with only the direct projection has been implemented.
Based on the reduction obtained in the number of variables, there is merit in
developing the POD method also with Galerkin’s method as described in chapter
2 to compare the performance of both methods.
3. The experimental results showed that the proposed current controlled driver pro-
duces a higher lamp efficiency than the implemented voltage source driver. Also,
the claim that the current waveform directly influences the optical output waveform
has been proven. Therefore, it is suggested to further improve the driver perfor-
mance by eliminating the high voltage transformers and thus avoid the problems
associated with the transformer parasitics. This can be achieved by utilizing a
high voltage DC bus and high voltage MOSFETs. With further developments and
improvements in the technology of power electronics, switches with much higher
voltage ratings will be available in the future. As a result the number of switches
to reach the required high voltage levels will decrease significantly making this ap-
proach even more attractive to use. For example silicon carbide (SiC) switches
are showing very promising performance. The blocking voltage of SiC switches
is currently 3kV with switching frequencies higher than 50kHz [78]. However,
the problems associated with series switches operation and driving will have to be
investigated.
4. Using the detailed FVM model developed for the DBD lamp, a dynamic optimiza-
tion problem can be formulated to find the optimum current waveform to maximize
the lamp efficiency. The calculus of variations principle can be used to solve this
problem. In the calculus of variations, a functional J[u] has to be defined. This
functional can be formulated as
to
J[u] = F (t, u, u̇)dt (6.1)
tf
The functional maps the continuous functions u(t) to real numbers. Using a suitable
functional J[u] as an objective function, an optimization problem can be solved to
find u(t) which optimizes the functional. In this problem, the functional J can be
taken as the input energy per cycle Win . Therefore the optimum current waveform
should minimize this functional while having a constraint that a certain output
optical energy per cycle Wout is achieved. The input and output energies will be
calculated based on the developed FVM model of the DBD lamp.
5. Finally, further studies can be performed on the lamp itself to optimize its parame-
ters (operating pressure, geometry, and materials) based on this new driver concept
since most of the previous studies were performed using a voltage controlled driver.
Appendix A
Fundamentals of DBD Operation
Dielectric barrier discharges are characterized by the presence of at least one insulating
layer in contact with the discharge between two planar or cylindrical electrodes connected
to an ac power supply. The different configurations are shown in figure A.1. The simplest
DBD configuration consists of two metallic electrodes connected to the power supply.
The gap is filled with a certain gas depending on the application. The cell is usually
operated near atmospheric pressure which is considered to be high pressure. At these
high pressures under sinusoidal excitation conditions, the discharge occurs in the form of
micro-discharges or filaments that bridge the gap and are distributed over the electrode
area [8].
A.1 Mechanism of Electrical Discharge in gases

The electrical discharges in gases can be described by one of two discharge mechanisms
or theories depending on the existing conditions. These two theories are:
1. Townsend theory
2. Streamer theory
The various physical conditions of gases, namely, pressure, temperature, electrode con-
figuration, nature of electrode surfaces and the availability of initial conducting parti-
cles are known to govern the processes [79]. The main process causing the discharge is
the ionization of the neutral atoms or molecules to generate the electrons and positive
ions. There are different causes for the ionization process like ionization by collision,
photo-ionization and secondary ionization. The most important process is the ionization
171
Appendix A. Fundamentals of DBD Operation 172
Figure A.1: Different DBD configurations
by collision, which can be defined as the process of liberating an electron from a gas
molecule with the simultaneous production of a positive ion. In the process of ionization
by collision, a free electron accelerated by an electric field reaching a high enough energy
collides with a neutral gas molecule and gives rise to a new electron and a positive ion.
In Townsend theory, the discharge or breakdown is mainly explained based on the

process of ionization consisting of both primary and secondary phases while neglecting
any effect of the generated space charge on the electric field in the gas. This assumption
might be applicable in the case of low pressure P or small gap distance d where the
space charge has a very small effect on the external field and can therefore be neglected.
However, in the case of a high pressure gas or long gap distance, the space charge produced
is high enough to cause a difference in the external applied field. In this case, the
Townsend theory was not able to describe the experimental results especially regarding
the time required to reach the breakdown instant. The Townsend mechanism predicted
time lags of 10−5 s, while in actual practice, breakdown was observed to occur at very
short times of the order of 10−8 s. Also, while the Townsend mechanism predicted a
diffused form of discharge, in actual practice, discharges were found to be filamentary
and irregular. The Townsend mechanism failed to explain all these observed phenomena
and as a result, around 1940, Raether and Meek and Loeb independently proposed the
Streamer theory [80].
Since a DBD is usually operated at high pressures, the occurrence of a discharge is
explained based on the Streamer theory [7] , [11] and [8]. A single electron starting at
the cathode accelerated by the external field builds up an avalanche of electrons through
ionization by collision. The electrons in the avalanche move very fast compared to the
positive ions due to their higher mobility. By the time the electrons reach the anode,
the positive ions are nearly in their original positions and form a positive space charge
at the anode. This enhances the field, and secondary avalanches are formed in the space
charge region. The field enhancement occurs first near the anode where the space charge
has the maximum value. As a result, a further increase in the space charge occurs due to
the increased ionization. The positive space charge extends to the cathode very rapidly
resulting in the formation of a streamer. As soon as the formed streamer reaches the
cathode a channel of conductive particles is formed bridging the two electrodes [80].
Figure A.2 gives an illustrative diagram for the process of streamer channel formation.
Figure A.2: Streamer Formation
Impinging ions and photons produce the needed secondary electrons that are fed into
the discharge channel. At the time the streamer bridges the gap, a (cathode-fall) region
of high electric field and high positive-ion densities are established within a fraction of
a nanosecond. Until this phase, there is no difference between the DBD and the dual
metallic electrode configuration. The charge deposition on the dielectric surfaces becomes
a dominant feature after the streamer has bridged the gap. These accumulated charges
at the dielectric surfaces lead immediately to a local collapse of the electric field in the
plasma [10].
This self-arresting effect of the dielectric barrier limits the duration of a micro-
discharge to a few nanoseconds, the transferred charge to typically 100 pC, and the
dissipated energy to a fraction of a μJ (for a 1mm gap at 1bar). The minute energy
dissipation limits the rise of the gas temperature, due to a single micro-discharge, to a
few Kelvin, while the electrons in the micro-discharge channel have mean energies of a
few eV. In the micro-discharge, electron densities of 1014 cm−3 and current densities as
high as 1000Acm−2 are reached [8]. The area of the surface discharge at the dielectric
is considerably larger than the channel diameter. For an isolated micro-discharge on
an extended dielectric surface, the area of the surface discharge will adjust its size to
accommodate the total current (conduction and displacement current) at all times [7].
A.2 Excimer Formation

During the discharge in the gas, a plasma channel containing free energetic electrons and
other heavy particles like excited neutral atoms and positive ions are produced. Due
to the high pressure under which the DBD is operated, very good conditions for the
formation of excimer species are available.
An excimer molecule is an excited state of a molecule that, under normal physical
conditions, does not possess a stable ground electronic state and once formed, decomposes
within a few nanoseconds giving up its excitation energy in the form of UV photons [5].
There are different gases used to form the excimer species including rare-gases, such as
Ar2∗ (λ = 126nm), Kr2∗ (λ = 146nm), or Xe∗2 (λ = 172nm) and other rare-gas halide
molecules like KrCl (λ = 222nm) and XeCl (λ = 308nm). The formation pathway of
the excimer molecules starts with the excitation into atomic or ionic states by electron
collisions depending on the energy of the electron. These reactions are shown for Xenon
in equations (A.1) and (A.2) below.
Xe + e → Xe∗ + e (A.1)
Xe + e → Xe+ + e (A.2)
Xe∗ and Xe+ are any excited or ionized atomic states, respectively, including the metastable
3
P2 and the resonant 3 P1 states. Subsequently these excited states decay via three-body
collisions to excimer states Xe∗2 according to the following equations:
Xe(3 P1 ) + 2Xe →1 Xe∗2 (0+

k
u , v > 0) + Xe (A.3)
where k1 = 127s−1 T orr −2
Xe(3 P2 ) + 2Xe →2 Xe∗2 (1u , 0−

k
u , v > 0) + Xe (A.4)
where k2 = 87s−1 T orr −2
Xe∗2 (0+ ∗ +k
u , v > 0) + Xe → Xe2 (0u , v ≈ 0) + Xe
3
(A.5)
where k3 = 2x106 s−1 T orr −1
Xe∗2 (1u , 0− ∗ −
k
u , v > 0) + Xe → Xe2 (1u , 0u , v ≈ 0) + Xe
4
(A.6)
where k4 = 2.3x106 s−1 T orr −1 The reaction rates are proportional to the square of the
pressure, therefore as the pressure increases, the reactions leading to excimer formation
will also increase. This is why a DBD operating at high pressures generates conditions
which are favorable for excimer formation. After a short period, the Xe∗2 excimers decay
to the ground state by emitting UV photons whose wavelength depends on the gas used
in the discharge. The following reactions take place [6]:
Xe∗2 (0+
τ
u , v ≈ 0) → Xe2 + hν(λmax ≈ 151nm)
1
(A.7)
where τ1 = 5 − 10ns
Xe∗2 (1u , 0−
τ
u , v > 0) → Xe2 + hν(λmax ≈ 151nm)
2
(A.8)
where τ2 = 40ns
Xe∗2 (0+
τ
u , v ≈ 0) → Xe2 + hν(λmax ≈ 172nm)
3
(A.9)
where τ3 = 5.5ns
Xe∗2 (1u , 0−
τ
u , v ≈ 0) → Xe2 + hν(λmax ≈ 172nm)
4
(A.10)
where τ4 = 100ns The radiative de-excitation processes (equations (A.7) and (A.8))
compete with the vibrational relaxation processes (equations (A.5) and (A.6)) depending
on the pressure. As can be concluded from comparing the collision frequency and the
radiation lifetime of the respective excimer state, it is only in the mid pressure range
(< 250T orr) that the first continuum at λ = 151nm can be observed, the intensity
of which decreases with increasing pressure. At almost atmospheric pressure, it is the
second continuum λ = 172nm that contributes for the most part to the UV emission, i.e.
the vibrational relaxation processes dominate radiative de-excitation [6].
Figure A.3 is an energy diagram showing the different reactions occurring in a Xe
discharge due to the presence of electrons, positive ions and neutral molecules [24]. Other
reactions start to appear due to the high number of electron collisions like the electron
ion recombination and subsequent relaxation processes which can feed the excimer levels.
The radiation process is in competition with two quenching processes; quenching of Xe∗2
excimer by atomic xenon which leads to a decrease of the efficiency at high pressures,
and quenching of Xe∗2 by itself which leads to a diminishing efficiency as the electron
density increases. Therefore, the operating conditions of the DBD can be optimized in
order to maximize the optical output [28].
2 Xe e
Xe 12.13
Xe2
Energy (eV)
e e
*
e
Collisions Xeexc
Radiative Xe
transitons e
*
2 Xe Xeres 8.45
Xe2* (0u ) Xe
Xe
Xe *
Xemet e 8.32

Xe ( 6 )
* 1
2 u 2 Xe
Xe
hȞ147nm
Xe ( 6 u )
* 3
2
hȞ152nm hȞ172nm
Xe(1S0) 0
Figure A.3: Reaction Processes in Xe discharge
In summary, there are four definite physical processes in the DBD process that occur
in order to transform electrical energy into radiative optical energy. These processes are:
1. Application of an electric field
2. Initiation and formation of a discharge channel, i.e., production of fast electrons

and near stationary ions
3. Excitation of the atomic and molecular species by the electrons
4. Initiation of chemical reactions and the transformation of the energy stored in

excited species into photon energy in the UV range.
Appendix B
Moments of Boltzmann Equation
To understand the assumptions and approximations made in using the fluid models, it
is essential to show one of the most accurate approaches to model the plasma which is
based on the solution of the Boltzmann equation.
B.1 Boltzmann Equation

The distribution function is defined as the number of particles in a unit volume of phase
space. The phase space is a coordinate system with six variables, three of them represent
the position and the other three represent the velocity of the particles. The distribution
function is in general a function of the position and velocity vectors. The Boltzmann
equation describes the temporal evolution of the distribution function of a certain particle
type in the plasma. It is based on the concept of particle conservation which states that
the change in the distribution function with time is only due to the flow of the particles
in and out of the unit volume and due to any kind of generation or loss due to collision
with other particles [16]. The formulation of the Boltzmann equation is as follows:
∂fα ( r, v, t) δfα
+ v · ∇fα ( r, v , t) + a · ∇v fα ( r, v, t) = ( )coll (B.1)
∂t δt
where fα is the distribution function of particle α, r is the position vector, v is the

velocity vector, a is the acceleration due to external forces like the force produced by an
electric field and finally the right hand side term represents the change in the distribution
function due to collisions with other particles. The solution of the Boltzmann equation
is a very difficult process and the time for the solution to converge is quite lengthy. This
178
Appendix B. Moments of Boltzmann Equation 179
leads to an alternative approach referred to as the moment expansion of the Boltzmann

equation which is used in most papers.
B.2 Derivation of the Moments

In principle, the distribution function for a system not in equilibrium can be obtained
by solving the Boltzmann equation. However, the solution of the Boltzmann equation is
generally a matter of great difficulty. If it is required to only solve for the macroscopic
variables of the plasma it is not necessary to solve the Boltzmann equation because the
differential equations governing the spatial and temporal variations of these variables
can be derived directly from the Boltzmann equation without solving it. Under these
assumptions it is much easier to solve these equations under some assumptions to get the
variables directly. These equations are known as the macroscopic transport equations.
They are obtained by taking the various moments of the Boltzmann equation.
The first three moments of the Boltzmann equation are the ones that produce the most
important and physically meaningful partial differential equations. These moments are
obtained by multiplying the Boltzmann equation by mα , mα v and mα v 2 /2 respectively
and integrating over all of velocity space. The first moment gives the equation of conser-
vation of mass; the second gives the equation of conservation of momentum and finally
the third equation gives the conservation of energy. These equations when solved give
the number density, the mean velocity and the mean energy distributions of the particles
as a function of time and position [16]. These moments can be summarized as follows:
1. The first moment gives the equation of mass conservation which is known also as
the continuity equation and it has the following form
∂nα
+ ∇ · Γ α = Sα (B.2)
∂t
where nα is the number density of the considered particle, Γα is the flux of the
considered particle which depends on the mean velocity of the particles uα and
finally Sα is a source term describing the processes of generation or loss of the
considered particle due to the different reactions.
2. The conservation of momentum or the equation of motion is given by the second

moment. It describes the temporal and spatial evolution of the mean velocity of
the particles of type α and is given by the following equation

∂ uα
mα nα ( + (u α · ∇)u α ) + ∇pα − nα F = A α − u α Sα (B.3)
∂t
where mα is the mass of particle α, pα is the static pressure which depends on the
mean energy of the particles, F represents the external forces affecting the particles
and A α denotes the change in the momentum due to collisions with other particles.
3. The third moment of Boltzmann equation gives the energy conservation equation.
This equation can be formulated in many forms depending on the variable to be
solved for. These variables might be the mean energy, static pressure or particle
mean temperature. All of these variables are related together through some coeffi-
cients. Therefore, all formulations are different images of the same equation. The
static pressure formulation is used here in order to maintain consistency with the
momentum equation.
∂(3pα /2) 3pα 5pα 1
+ (u α · ∇)( )+( )∇ · u α + ∇ · q α = Mα − u α · A α + mα u2α Sα (B.4)
∂t 2 2 2
The physical interpretation of this equation is as follows. The first two terms on
the left-hand side represent the total rate of change of the particle thermal energy
density in a volume element moving with the mean velocity u α . This is due to
the definition of the static pressure where it is defined as the force per unit area
due to the random velocity of the particles only. That is why it is related to the
temperature by pα = nα kTα . The thermal energy density is given by 3pα /2. The
other terms contribute to this total rate of change of the thermal energy density.
The third term on the left-hand side can be interpreted as the change in the thermal
energy due to particles entering the volume element with the mean velocity u α and
due to the work done on the unit volume by the static pressure acting on its surface.
The fourth term represents the change in the thermal energy density due to heat
flux q α . The first term on the right-hand side represents the rate of change in the
thermal energy density as a consequence of collisions. The last two terms express
the dependence of the energy distribution on the change in the momentum and
density due to collisions [16].
The three moments of the Boltzmann equation are coupled and should be solved
simultaneously. Moreover, the moment equations system always has one additional vari-
able which is not known as in the energy conservation equation; the heat flux term q α
is unknown. Therefore, in order to solve these equations a certain assumption has to be

made. For example, the heat flux can be set to zero or assumed to be only a diffusive
flux. Then the number density, mean velocity and mean energy of the particle α can be
obtained as function of time and space.
B.3 Calculation of the transport and rate coefficients

The electron density distribution function fe can be determined by solving the stationary
homogenous Boltzmann equation given by equation 1.4. The distribution is a function
of the velocity v at a constant reduced field E/N. Based on the distribution function,
the rate coefficients for all processes with known cross sections can be calculated. For
example, if the cross section for ionization is denoted by σi , then the rate coefficient for
ionization (in cm3 /s molecule) is given by:
∞
ρi = vσi · fe (v)dv (B.5)
0
where the ionization rate νi = ρi N and the ionization coefficient αi = νi /ve , and ve is the
drift velocity [11].
B.4 Modifications to the plasma model proposed in

the literature
In [81] , the authors used the three moment equations shown in equations B.2-B.4 to
model the plasma produced in a steamer breakdown. These three equations were solved
for the electrons. Since the ions are much heavier than the electrons it was assumed
that their momentum and energy would not change significantly during the discharge.
Therefore, only the continuity equation was solved for the ions. The system of equations
is coupled to Poisson’s equation to calculate the distorted electrical field due to the space
charges.
References [24] , [82] and [51] used a simplified model which assumes that the velocity
of the electrons will be in direct equilibrium with the local field. Therefore, only the
continuity and energy conservation equations are solved for the electrons while the rest
of the particles are assumed to have a velocity and mean energy that remain unchanged.
In these references the different rate coefficients and transport coefficients were given as
functions of the mean electron energy instead of the local electrical field.
In other references [51] and [83], the authors did not solve Poisson’s equation to find the
local electric field. Instead, they calculated the field based on the concept of conserva-
tion of the current through the whole length. This can be achieved using the following
equations:
∂E(x) 1
= −( )(Iex − Icond (x)) (B.6)
∂t o Aplasma

Icond (x) = −(Aplasma e)( Γi − Γe ) (B.7)
where Iex is the current flowing in the external circuit. These equations are based on
the fact that the total discharge current is composed of two components; a displacement
current and a conduction one. The conduction current is due to the motion of free
charges either electrons or ions. The displacement current is the consequence of the time
changing field inside the plasma and the dielectric barriers which are connected in series
with the plasma.
Appendix C
DBD Circuit Model Details
In this appendix the details of the circuit models proposed in the literature are given
including the equivalent circuits and the principles behind the suggested models. The
models are based on describing the DBD lamp using passive components or dependent
sources.
C.1 Passive Elements Modeling Approach

Two passive element models have been proposed. The first one uses a variable conduc-
tance while the second utilizes a Zener diode to model the conduction current of the
discharge.
C.1.1 Models based on variable conductances
The electrical representation of the DBD as presented in [33] is shown in figure C.1. The
authors used a symmetrical DBD configuration as presented in chapter 2. The capacitors
C1 and C3 correspond to the dielectric barriers and C2 is the gas gap capacitor. Their
values are obtained from the dimensions of the DBD geometry and the permittivity of
the dielectric barriers. These capacitors model the displacement current that flows in
the lamp due to the time derivative of the applied voltage. The discharge plasma is
represented by a subsystem block.
The discharge is modeled as a voltage-controlled conductance G, which represents
the charge density assuming, that the charged particle mobility is uniform and constant.
183
Appendix C. DBD Circuit Model Details 184
The conductance G is governed by the following equation:

dG
= Kprod H(V )G − Krec G2 (C.1)
dt
where Kprod is an ionization coefficient, Krec is a recombination coefficient, ΔV is the
voltage drop across the gas gap and H(V ) is a function equal to 1 if the voltage drop
is over a given threshold voltage and 0 otherwise. The ionization in the gas starts when
C1
Discharge
Vs C2
C3
Figure C.1: Proposed DBD circuit model
the initial electrons have gained enough energy from the external electric field. This is
modeled using the H function and the threshold voltage is assumed to be the breakdown
voltage of the gas under the operating conditions. The recombination term is proportional
to both electron and ion density. Therefore, this term depends on the squared value of
the conductance.
The values for the ionization and recombination coefficients are determined based on
experiments or from the PDE model solution. Once these values are determined, the
model can be used to simulate the DBD process for supply waveforms with different
parameters. However, the filter impacts the accuracy of the simulated results for other
variables in the system like the optical output.
The problem with this model is the sudden changes in the ionization term which
can cause numerical problems with simulation software. The authors tried to solve this
problem by introducing a low pass filter after the H function to smooth the switching.
However, this filter impacts the dynamic behavior of the lamp and especially the optical
output.
As described before, the discharge volume in the DBD consists of three mean areas:
the first one is the bulk of the plasma which is mainly neutral with nearly uniform positive
and negative charge distributions. Then there is the cathode sheath where the electron
density is almost zero. In this region the electric field changes significantly and takes on
very high values due to the net positive charges in this region. The third region is an
anode sheath where there is also a change in the electric field. To reignite the discharge
in the gap, the electric field has to be reversed. Therefore, the two sheath regions switch
their spatial location once in each cycle.
In the same paper [33] , the authors improved the model by splitting the plasma
model into three different subsystems corresponding to the three regions with different
electrical behaviors appearing in the plasma during the discharge. The bulk plasma is
modeled using the conductance model described by equation (C.1) in parallel with the
gap capacitance. The sheaths are modeled as either a high value resistance when the
voltage across the sheath is positive or as a discharge conductance parallel to a capacitor
calculated based on the dimensions of the sheath region when the voltage across the
sheath is negative.
The authors of reference [34] used a similar model as in [33] but they tried to introduce
an indicator for the UV radiation obtained directly from the circuit. This is a very
important feature because a direct relation between the UV radiation and the supply
waveform can be obtained. The model used in [34] differs from the one of [33] in that
only the bulk plasma and the cathode sheath are modeled. This approximation is due to
the fact that the anode sheath is very small and its impact on the electrical parameters
is weak, therefore it can be approximated to be a part of the bulk plasma.
Another approximation used in this paper is the uniform field approximation. The
electric field within the cathode sheath changes rapidly because of the free positive
charges. In order to model this region, it is assumed that some uniform average value for
the field is produced by having fictitious charges presented at both edges of the sheath
instead of the volume positive charges.
Based on this approximation, the charge density is zero in the sheath and the po-
tential changes linearly across this area, with slope changes on the sheath boundaries.
These slope changes correspond to surface charges: one is real as it is the surface charge
accumulated on the dielectric but the other is fictitious. This approximation leads to a
straight forward electrical equivalent of the cathode sheath as the electrical characteristics
exactly correspond to a capacitor.
The model suggested in this paper is shown in figure C.2. The capacitors Cd1 , Cd2
and Cg represent the dielectric barriers and the gas gap respectively. The bulk plasma
is modeled as a constant resistance Rp . Its value can be obtained from experimental

or simulation results. Finally, the sheath is modeled as a capacitor Csheath that has a
resistance Ri connected in parallel. This resistance is used to model the recombination
process occurring between the positive ions and electrons. The capacitor Csheath dis-
charges through the resistance Ri and therefore the voltage of this capacitor decreases.
Cd 1
impedance Z
cathode sheath dipole
Streamer dipole
Ri
Cg C sheath
R p
Cd 2
Figure C.2: Modified DBD model of figure C.1
Finally, the streamer or discharge process is modeled using the streamer dipole which
is exactly the same variable conductance G described in [33]. The authors suggest that
the power loss in this conductance G (streamer dipole) can give an indication of the
amount of UV radiation produced. This is justified by the fact that the high density
of the excimers is produced in the sheath region during the streamer discharge period.
It is stated in the paper, that the value of the loss in the streamer conductance is not
the absolute flux, but it maintains a correct relative behavior for a wide range of supply
waveform parameters.
C.1.2 Models based on Zener diodes

In paper [32] and [35] a zener diode has been used to model the discharge process occurring
in the DBD cell. The suggested circuit model is shown in figure C.3. The capacitances of
the dielectrics Csd and the gas gap Cgas are also used as described before. The capacitance
Cp represents the stray capacitance of the cell. The parameters of the current-voltage
Csd
Cp Cgas Cmem Rmem
Figure C.3: Zener diode DBD model
characteristic of the zener diodes are calculated based on experiments. It is shown in

these papers that the parameters depend on the power dissipated in the discharge.
The elements Cmem and Rmem model the memory effect of the discharge. This effect
can be explained by the fact that the gas remains excited between two consecutive dis-
charges meaning that the breakdown voltage for the next discharge is less than the initial
value before the first one. As the first discharge occurs, the capacitor Cmem is charged
to a certain value. After the extinction of the discharge, Cmem discharges through the
resistance Rmem. Therefore, the breakdown voltage is decreased. The higher the fre-
quency of the supply the higher the value of the memory voltage and therefore the lower
the breakdown voltage.
A trial to model a multi-filamentary discharge based on the concept of variable con-
ductance was presented in [36]. The authors of this paper used a homogenous model
for one filament and then they coupled a number of these models to simulate a certain
number of filaments. This was achieved by discretizing the discharge volume in regions
containing discharge filaments and others with no discharge. Depending on the dimen-
sions of the discharge filament, an equivalent capacitance can be calculated for both the
gas and the dielectric barrier. For modeling a number of filaments Nf, the circuit con-
tains Nf +1 parallel branches. These Nf + 1 branches consist of Nf models for the Nf
filaments and then one last branch which models the rest of the gas with no discharge.
The proposed circuit is shown in figure C.4.
A variable conductance Gf is used to model the conduction current in each filament.
To calculate the variation of the discharge conductance during the ionization and then the
recombination phase, Gf needs to achieve a maximum value Gf max with an exponential
rising time τr and then to relax with a falling time tauf . This sequence is triggered once
the voltage across the gap achieves the breakdown voltage. This triggering has been
achieved in this paper using a triac which is switched on when the voltage reaches the
C1 C1 C1n
C2 Gf C2 Gf C2n
C3 C3 C3n
Nf branches
Figure C.4: Multiple filaments model
breakdown voltage.
C.2 Dependent Current Sources Modeling Approach

In the second approach the discharge plasma is not represented by passive elements but
instead by a current source. The current source represents the conduction discharge
current in the gas gap. The circuit model shown in figure C.5 is used by the authors
of [37].
Based on the circuit analysis using Kirchoff’s voltage and current laws, the relation
between the conduction current source Ip,g and the total external current It,a can be
obtained. The total external current can be measured and therefore, the discharge current
can be calculated. The relation between these two currents is as follows:
Cg dUa (t)
Ip,g (t) = (1 + )It,a (t) − Cg (C.2)
Cd dt
After calculating the internal conduction current based on the measured external current
and the known supply waveform, other internal electrical quantities like the gap voltage
and the dielectric voltage can be calculated.
Based on the same approach, the authors in paper [38] modeled the DBD but assumed
filamentary mode operation. The model contains a dependent current source representing
the total internal conduction current. A variable capacitor is included which represents
the gap dynamic behavior due to the varying ionization of the gas inside the lamp. The
proposed circuit model is shown in figure C.6.
Va
It,a
Cg Ip,g
Cd
Figure C.5: Current source modeling the plasma
cd
cg(t) vMCB
Rf iCCS
Figure C.6: Proposed DBD circuit model using voltage controlled current source
The resistance Rf represents the filamentary channel resistance of the microdischarge.

The capacitor Cg is proposed to be variable because the relative permittivity of the gas
decreases when the ionization level increases and returns to its natural value when the
ionization finishes. The alteration of the value of the relative permittivity of the gas
modifies the equivalent capacitance of the gap. It is assumed that the equivalent capaci-
tance of the gap is decreased by 30% during the discharge period based on experimental
validation [38]. The capacitance is changed by connecting another capacitor in parallel
through a controlled switch.
The signal supplied to the current source iccs is proportional to the time derivative of
the supply. Resistance Rf is switched on when the value of the supply voltage is higher
than the breakdown voltage. It is also assumed that the breakdown voltage depends on
the frequency of the supply. As the frequency increases, the breakdown voltage decreases.
This effect can be explained by the memory voltage phenomenon. The resistance Rf is
switched off at the peak of the supply voltage, because the voltage across the gap will
decrease and the discharge cannot occur anymore during this half cycle.
Appendix D
Transformer Design
A special transformer has to be designed in order to meet the requirements for the
proposed DBD driver. The specifications of the transformer would be the following as
determined from the design algorithm of the proposed DBD driver:
1. A turns ratio n
2. A primary inductance Lp
3. Maximum operating frequency Fsmax
4. A coupling factor higher than a certain value k
5. The smallest possible primary to secondary capacitance
An air gapped ferrite core was chosen for the transformer design. The transformer design
procedure is described as follows:
1. A core material and size should be first chosen and based on this choice the following
information is obtained:
• Core volume Ve in mm3
• Mean core length le in mm
• Mean cross section area of core Ae in mm2
• Thermal resistance of the core Rth in C/W
• Effective window height wb in mm and window width wh in mm
• Mean length per turn l/turn in mm
191
Appendix D. Transformer Design 192
• Material constants Cm , x, y for the core loss calculation. The core loss density
is given from [84] by the following equation:
x−1 y
Pv = Cm feq Fsmax Bpk (D.1)
where feq is an equivalent frequency calculated based on a piece-wise waveform of

the magnetizing current of the transformer.
2. The total transformer losses can be determined based on the total permissible
temperature rise.
Trise
Ploss = (D.2)
Rth
3. The total transformer loss can be split equally between the core loss and the copper
loss as an initial assumption. The reason for this assumption is that it is known
that for sinusoidal waveforms, the maximum efficiency for transformers is obtained
when the core loss and the copper loss are equal. Therefore,
Ploss
Pcore = (D.3)
2
4. The core loss density is given by:

Pcore
Pv = (D.4)
Ve
5. The peak flux density can be determined from the core loss density equation D.1:
1
Pv y
Bpk = x−1
(D.5)
Cm feq Fsmax
The peak to peak flux density is calculated as Bpk−pk = 2Bpk .
6. The number of turns in the primary winding can be calculated from Faraday’s law
as follows:
Vdc1 ton
Nprim = (D.6)
Ae Bpk−pk
7. The distance available for the wire of the primary winding bprim can be obtained
from:
wb
bprim = (D.7)
Nprim
8. The number of primary wires in parallel is chosen as x and the distance available
for the wire’s diameter is calculated as bprim /x
9. The number of the secondary turns is determined based on the turns ratio n as
Nsec = Nprim n
10. The distance available for the wire of the secondary winding bsec can be obtained
from:
wb
bsec = (D.8)
Nsec
11. The cross section area of the primary winding wire (Litz wire will be used for the
primary winding because of the high current and high frequency in the primary)
can be calculated as
Aprim = 0.25π(kLitz hprim )2 (D.9)
Where kLitz is the utilization coefficient of the Litz wire.
12. The cross section area of the secondary winding wire (Solid wire will be used for
the secondary winding) can be calculated as
Asec = 0.25π(kSolidhsec )2 (D.10)
Where kSolid is the utilization coefficient of the solid wire.
13. The distance (dprim−sec) between a primary layer and secondary can be determined
based on the window width wh, the number of layers and the diameters of the
wires used. In this design, two primary layers are used and the secondary is inter-
leaved between them to reduce the leakage inductance. Therefore, the equation to
calculate the distance is given by:
wh − 2hprim − hsec
dprim−sec = (D.11)
2
This distance is used to calculate the capacitance between the primary and sec-
ondary windings. This capacitance is calculated using the parallel plate assumption
and the equation is given by:
wb(l/turn)
Cprim−sec = 2o r (D.12)
dprim−sec
The 2 at the beginning of equation D.12 is due to the two interfaces between
the primary winding and the secondary winding. Since the secondary winding
is interleaved between two primary windings connected in parallel. There is a
capacitance between each primary and the secondary. These two capacitances
appear approximately in parallel and therefore the total equivalent capacitance in

equation D.12 has a factor of 2. r is the relative permittivity of the insulation
material between the different layers. The dielectric material to be used should
have the following properties:
• The inter-winding capacitance should be minimized as much as possible there-

fore a low dielectric constant material is required. The dielectric constant
should also be independent of temperature.
• The dielectric losses of the transformer should be minimized, therefore a ma-

terial with a low dissipation factor at high frequencies in excess of 100kHz is
required.
14. The leakage inductance is calculated as follows:
1 2 μodprim−sec (l/turn)
Lleak = Nprim (D.13)
2 wb
The 1/2 at the beginning of equation D.13 is due to the interleaving of the secondary
winding between two primary layers.
15. The coupling factor can be calculated using the following equation:

Lleak
k= 1− (D.14)
Lp
16. The core will contain an air gap to achieve the required inductance Lp . The air
gap is obtained from the equation:
2
μo Ae Nprim
lg = (D.15)
Lp
17. The primary winding resistance and secondary winding resistance can be calculated
as:
1 ρLitz (l/turn)Nprim
Rprim = (D.16)
2x Aprim
ρcu (l/turn)Nsec
Rsec = (D.17)
Asec
where ρLitz and ρcu are the resistivity of the Litz and solid wire respectively. The
primary and secondary copper losses can be estimated using the RMS current.
18. The total losses can be calculated as the sum of the core loss and copper loss. This
total loss is multiplied by the thermal resistance of the core to give the temperature
rise. If the temperature rise is higher than the required value then the design
procedure is repeated with different core size and/or material.
The tradeoff in the transformer design is the contradiction between the design require-
ments which are the minimization of the leakage inductance and also the minimization of
the inter-winding capacitance. It is shown from equations D.12 and D.13 that in order to
decrease the leakage inductance the distance between the primary and secondary layers
should be decreased but this will increase the inter-winding capacitance.
Appendix E
Eliminating Parasitic Oscillations

using Special Switching Scheme
The two switch flyback converter is shown in figure E.1(a). The effective capacitance of
the transformer (Cef f ) causes oscillations in the charging period due to the resonance with
the leakage inductance of the transformer and due to the unmatched initial conditions of
the capacitor voltage and leakage inductance initial current. To eliminate this oscillation
the switching scheme can be modified to set the right initial conditions to eliminate any
oscillations in the current of the transformer. The analysis of this method is described
in the following sections.
The general equivalent circuit that describes the two switch flyback converter during
any interval in the charging period of the transformer is shown in figure E.1(b). Using
this general equivalent circuit, the leakage and magnetizing inductances’ currents and ca-
pacitor voltage are derived for the different time intervals. Then, the conditions required
to eliminate the oscillation are identified. Based on these conditions and the switching
scheme to be used, the on-time and off-time of the switches will be chosen. The switching
scheme is chosen to be as shown in the timing diagram in figure E.2.
Switch S1 will be on for the whole on-time ton during which a specific peak current
in the magnetizing inductance is achieved. S2 will open after time ta for a period tb and
then closed again till the end of the on-time period ton . During the time tb the diode
D5 will start conducting because of the current that has been built up in the leakage
inductance Lleak . After opening both switches at the end of ton , both diodes D5 and D7
will conduct for the period tc . During the period tc the current of the leakage inductance
reaches zero and the energy stored in the leakage inductance is recovered to the DC bus.
196
Appendix E. Eliminating Parasitic Oscillations using Special Switching Scheme197

109
Vs2

Isw1

drv 1
S1 IDEAL
D8
300.3n
ileak Lleak
435
Vs 300.3n
vc
Lleak
9.1597u Lm 3.025n
Vg Cef f '
TX1
IDEAL IDEAL
D7 D5 25p
P1 S1
Cef f im
D6
IDEAL 70p
S2 IDEAL Cg
drv 2
D9

(a) (b)
Figure E.1: Two Switch Flyback Converter: (a) Circuit topology, (b) General equivalent
circuit during charging
S1
S2
D5
D7
ta tb tc
Figure E.2: Timing diagram for two switch flyback converter in the case S2 is turned off
This also clamps the voltage across the switch S1 to the DC bus voltage of 435V and S2
to the DC bus voltage 435V plus the added voltage level 109V for a total of 544V . The
same scheme can be performed using S1 as the switch that is turned off and turned on
again after tb . By choosing suitable values for ta and tb , the oscillations in the currents
and capacitor voltage can be completely eliminated after ta + tb for the rest of ton .
E.1 Analysis of the general circuit

The general equivalent circuit will be analyzed in this section to give the general expres-
sions of the inductances’ currents and the capacitor voltage under the assumption that
all of them have initial conditions other than zero. The equivalent Laplace circuit of
the general circuit of figure E.1(b) is shown in figure E.3. The capacitance voltage and
Lleak Ileak(0)
sLleak
sLm
1/(sCef f ')
Vg/s
Lm Im(0) Vc(0)/s
Figure E.3: Laplace equivalent circuit of the general circuit of figure E.1(b)
inductances currents are given by:

Ip (0)
vc (t) = sinωo t + Vc (0)cosωot + k 2 Vg (1 − cosωo t) (E.1)
ωo Cef f
Vg t k 2 Vg − Vc (0)
ileak (t) = Ileak (0) + + sinωo t − k 2 Ip (0)(1 − cosωo t) (E.2)
Lp ωo Lleak
Vg t k 2 Vg − Vc (0)
im (t) = Im (0) + − sinωo t + (1 − k 2 )Ip (0)(1 − cosωo t) (E.3)
Lp ωo Lm
where
Lm
Ip (0) = Ileak (0) − Im (0), Lp = Lm + Lleak , k 2 = (E.4)
Lp
1
ωo = L
, Cef f = n2 Cef f (E.5)
m Lleak
Lp
Cef f
n is transformer turn ratio.
E.2 Analysis of the different intervals

1. First interval: 0 < t < ta
The equivalent circuit during this interval under the assumption of zero initial conditions
(IC) would be the same as the general equivalent circuit with all IC equal to zero and
Vg = Vs = 435V . The equations that describe the currents and capacitor voltage are as

109
Vs2

Isw1
IDEAL
300.3n
S1
drv 1
D8
ileak Lleak
vc
435
Vs 9.1597u Lm 3.025n
435 Cef f '
Vs 300.3n
Lleak
im
TX1
IDEAL IDEAL
D7 D5 P1 S1 25p
Cef f
D6
IDEAL
IDEAL 70p
S2 Cg
drv 2
D9

(a) (b)
Figure E.4: Two Switch Flyback Converter during interval 1: (a) Circuit topology, (b)
Equivalent circuit
follows:
vc (t) = k 2 Vs (1 − cosωo t) (E.6)
Vs t k 2 Vs
ileak (t) = + sinωo t (E.7)
Lp ωo Lleak
Vs t k 2 Vg
im (t) = − sinωo t (E.8)
Lp ωo Lm
2. Second interval: ta < t < ta + tb
Switch S1 or S2 is opened and D7 or D5 respectively is conducting therefore the circuit
describing this period in case S2 is turned off is equivalent to the general circuit with IC
values that depend on the values of the currents and capacitor voltage at the instant ta
and with the voltage Vg = −Vs2 = −109V . If S1 is turned off, then Vg = Vs2 = 0. If both
S1 and S2 are turned off, then Vg = −Vs2 = −544V . The equivalent circuit is shown in
figure E.5. The equations for this interval are:

109
Vs2

Isw1 300.3n
Lleak
drv 1
S1 IDEAL
D8
ileak
vc
-109
9.1597u
-
Vs2 Lm 3.025n
Cef f '
435
Vs 300.3n
Lleak
im
TX1
IDEAL IDEAL
D7 D5 P1 S1 25p
Cef f
D6

IDEAL 70p
drv 2
S2 IDEAL
D9
Cg

(b)
(a)
Figure E.5: Two Switch Flyback Converter during interval 2: (a) Circuit topology, (b)
Equivalent circuit
Ip (ta )
vc (t) = sinωo t + Vc (ta )cosωo t − k 2 Vs2 (1 − cosωot) (E.9)
ωo Cef f
Vs2 t −k 2 Vs2 − Vc (ta )

ileak (t) = Ileak (ta ) − + sinωo t − k 2 Ip (ta )(1 − cosωo t) (E.10)
Lp ωo Lleak
Vs2 t −k 2 Vs2 − Vc (ta )
im (t) = Im (ta ) − − sinωo t + (1 − k 2 )Ip (ta )(1 − cosωo t) (E.11)
Lp ωo Lm
3. Third interval: ta + tb < t < ta + tb + ton
Switch S1 or S2 (the one that was turned off in the previous interval) is turned on again
and the equivalent circuit is the same as the one during the first interval with IC that
depend on the values at the time instant ta + tb . Therefore the equations of this interval
are given by:
Ip (ta + tb )
vc (t) = sinωo t + (Vc (ta + tb ) − k 2 Vs )cosωo t + k 2 Vs (E.12)
ωo Cef f
Vs t k 2 Vs − Vc (ta + tb )
ileak (t) = Ileak (ta + tb ) + + sinωo t − k 2 Ip (ta )(1 − cosωo t) (E.13)
Lp ωo Lleak
Vs t k 2 Vs − Vc (ta + tb )
im (t) = Im (ta +tb )+ − sinωo t+(1−k 2 )Ip (ta +tb )(1−cosωo t) (E.14)
Lp ωo Lm
To eliminate the oscillation in the currents and capacitor voltage the sine and cosine
terms have to be eliminated based on equations E.12-E.14. This can be achieved by
satisfying the following two requirements:
1.
Ip (ta + tb ) = 0 (E.15)
2.
Vc (ta + tb ) = k 2 Vs (E.16)
By solving these two equations the following values for ta and tb are obtained in order to
eliminate the oscillations:
1 1
tb = arccos(1 − 2 ) (E.17)
wo 2α
1 1
ta = −tb + arccos(− ) (E.18)
wo 2α
where
Vs − Vs2
α= (E.19)
Vs
where Vs is the DC bus voltage and Vs2 is the clamp voltage during the off-time of the
switches.
E.3 Simulation Results

The simulation is performed using ideal switches to prove the validity of the equations
and the effectiveness of the proposed timing scheme. The same circuit shown in figure
E.1(a) is used in the simulation. The different values used in the simulations are shown
in table E.1.
Table E.1: Operating conditions for testing the proposed switching scheme
Parameter Value
ton (μs) 1.22
Vs (V ) 435
Vs2 (V ) 109
Lm (μH) 9.2
Lleak (nH) 300
Cef f (pF ) 25
n 11
Figures E.6 and E.7 show the switch current and the secondary voltage of the trans-
former with no special switching scheme. The oscillations were completely eliminated
in both waveforms when the proposed switching scheme was implemented as shown in
figures E.8 and E.9. The values for ta and tb were calculated from equation E.17 to be:
⎧ ⎫
⎪
⎪ 31.087nsec S1 is turned of f ⎪
⎪
⎪
⎨ ⎪
⎬
ta = 34.388nsec S2 is turned of f
⎪
⎪ ⎪
⎪
⎪
⎩ ⎪
39.942nsec S1 and S2 turned of f ⎭
⎧ ⎫
⎪
⎪ 31.087nsec S1 is turned of f ⎪
⎪
⎪
⎨ ⎪
⎬
tb = ⎪ 24.439nsec S2 is turned of f ⎪
⎪
⎪ ⎪
⎪
⎩
13.280nsec S1 and S2 turned of f ⎭
80
60
40
I_Sw / A
20
-20
0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 1.2 1.4 1.6
Time/uSecs 200nSecs/div
Figure E.6: Switch current with no special switching scheme
E.4 Experimental Results

Some preliminary testing has been done using this switching scheme on the implemented
prototype. Figure E.10 shows the waveforms obtained during the testing with no special
switching scheme. The 3rd from top waveform is the primary current of T1 . The oscil-
lations in the waveform is shown however the oscillations are more damped compared
0
TX1-21 / kV
-2
-4
-6
-8
0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 1.2 1.4 1.6
Figure E.7: Secondary voltage with no special switching scheme
50
40
30
I_Sw / A
20
10
-0
0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 1.2 1.4 1.6
Figure E.8: Switch current with special switching scheme

1
TX1-21 / kV
-1
-2
-3
-4
0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 1.2 1.4 1.6
Figure E.9: Secondary voltage with special switching scheme
Table E.2: Comparison between the results of the two switching schemes
No timing With timing

Peak switch current(A) 92 54.6
RMS switch current(A) 10.9 7.8
Peak trans. sec. voltage(kV) 9.2 5
to the simulations. This damping is due to the effect of the different resistances in the
actual circuit which have not been modeled in the simulation. In figure E.11, the gating
signal of the switches is the 2nd from top waveform. In the experiment, both switches S1
and S2 were turned off simultaneously. The transformer current (3rd from top) in figure
E.11 does not suffer from any oscillations after the first cycle. The on-time ta was taken
to be 90nsec as compared to 39.942nsec obtained from the calculations. This 90nsec was
chosen because this is the minimum on-time that can be generated by the gate driver
(IR2110/IR2113) used in the experiments. tb was adjusted until the oscillations were
nearly eliminated.
Figure E.10: No special switching scheme:T1 primary voltage (top waveform)

(0.2kV /div), Gating signal (2nd from top waveform) (0.5kV /div), T1 primary current
(3rd from top waveform) (10A/div) and T2 primary current (bottom waveform) (20A/div)
with (500ns/div)
As a conclusion, the proposed special switching scheme is successful in eliminating

the oscillation that appear in the flyback transformer current due to the resonance asso-
ciated with the leakage inductance and the inter-winding capacitance of the transformer.
Further analysis is required, as the model of the MOSFET and the gate driver can be
included in the model and therefore obtain a more accurate analytical expressions.
Figure E.11: Special switching scheme:T1 primary voltage (top waveform) (0.2kV /div),
Gating signal (2nd from top waveform) (0.5kV /div), T1 primary current (3rd from
top waveform) (10A/div) and T2 primary current (bottom waveform) (20A/div) with
(500ns/div)
Appendix F
UV output measurement and

calculation
The UV radiation was measured using a UV detector from Gigahertz-Optik. The detector
was placed just below the lamp inside the enclosure as shown in figure F.1. The measured
quantity by the detector is the UV density in mW/cm2 . The spectral responsivity of this
detector is given in figure F.2. At the wavelength of interest for the XeCl gas, which
is 308nm, the responsivity of the detector is very close to 1. Therefore, no correction
factors were used in the calculations. To calculate the efficiency of the lamp, the total
1
UV Detector
Figure F.1: Location of the UV detector used for UV density measurement
207
Appendix F. UV output measurement and calculation 208
Figure F.2: Spectral responsivity of the UV detector

Appendix F. UV output measurement and calculation 209
UV output power from the lamp in W had to be estimated. The UV density measured
has to be multiplied by the ignited surface area of the lamp. As shown in figure F.1, at
low peak currents the discharge did not cover the whole lamp therefore an estimation for
the ignited area was determined by inspection. However, at other operating conditions
with the rated peak current, the discharge covered the lamp length as shown in figure F.3.
The total surface area of the lamp was calculated based on the lamp geometry shown in
figure 4.31 (πDext Lef f ). Where Dext is the external diameter of the lamp and Lef f is the
length of the lamp. A photo-diode has been utilized to capture the temporal evolution
of the UV output pulse because there is always some radiation produced in the visible
range. This photo-diode is also shown in figure F.3.
1
UV Detector
2 Photodiode
Figure F.3: Optical detector and UV detector locations
It has to be stated that this approach in calculating the efficiency might contain
some errors but the same approach was used in the whole analysis and also with the full
bridge converter results. Finally, the most accurate measurement that can be used in
any comparison should be based on the UV density unless there is a chance to accurately
measure the total UV output of the lamp with an integrating sphere.
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Modeling of and Driver Design For A Dielectric

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Modeling of and Driver Design for a Dielectric

Barrier Discharge Lamp

Amgad Amin El-Deib

A thesis submitted in conformity with the requirements

Modeling of and Driver Design for a Dielectric

driver to produce it.

by the transformer magnetizing inductance and the lamp capacitance.

a current controlled driver. The proposed driver performance is compared to a voltage

to the voltage source driver.

To my lovely wife Dina, my sweet daughter Laila and my baby boy

List of Figures xvi

List of Tables xvii

2 Reduced Order Circuit Model of the DBD Lamp 22

3 Eﬀect of Electrical Waveform on DBD Performance 66

5 Experimental Results 136

A Fundamentals of DBD Operation 171

B Moments of Boltzmann Equation 178

C DBD Circuit Model Details 183

D Transformer Design 191

E Eliminating Parasitic Oscillations using Special Switching Scheme 196

F UV output measurement and calculation 207

1.1 DNA absorption spectrum . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

2.1 System Decoupling Block Diagram . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

5.1 Circuit diagram of the proposed DBD driver . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139

A.1 Diﬀerent DBD conﬁgurations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 172

C.1 Proposed DBD circuit model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 184

F.1 Location of the UV detector used for UV density measurement . . . . . . 207

1.1 Wavelengths produced by diﬀerent gases . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

2.1 Excimer Particles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36

5.1 Parameters of the designed Transformer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138

Figure 1.1: DNA absorption spectrum

Table 1.1: Wavelengths produced by diﬀerent gases

1.2 Physics of DBD

more details refer to appendix A.

1.3 Modeling of DBD

Dielectric Discharge gap Dielectric

Figure 1.3: DBD reactor geometry

modeled. There are two main approaches used in plasma modeling.

1.4 Plasma Model based on Moments of Boltzmann

• For charged particles:

• For neutral excited atoms:

1.4.1 Transport and rate coeﬃcients

Table 1.2: Reaction processes for Xenon

No. Reaction Rate coeﬃcient

(a) Electron transport coeﬃcients (b) Ion transport coeﬃcients

1.4.2 Boundary conditions

Figure 1.5: Direct ionization coeﬃcient

• For Poisson’s equation:

2. The electrode at x = 0 is grounded (V = 0) and the other electrode at x = L

Γn = γp Γp + γph Γph (1.5)

Γn = Ksads n − Ksdes ns + Ksrec nps (1.6)

Γp = Ksads p + Ksrec pns (1.7)

1.4.3 Surface charge calculation

1.5 Problem Statement

1.6 Thesis Objectives

The main objectives of this thesis can be summarized as follows:

1.7 Thesis Outline

• The transformer design procedure utilized in this work is described in Appendix D.

Reduced Order Circuit Model of the

2.2 Literature Survey on Circuit Models of DBD

2.2.1 Passive Elements based Models

2.2.2 Voltage Dependent Current Source based Models

2.3 Discretization of the PDE model

Sn = α(E) |Γn − βnp2 (2.3)

Sp = α(E) |Γn − K11 No2 p (2.6)