Striking patterns in electric discharges
Students Shaun Alsum, Margeaux Carter, Andrew Hess, and Jake Lampen
Professor Matt Walhout, Calvin College
Tuesday, October 16, SB110
We have explored pattern-formation phenomena in an argon plasma at atmospheric pressure. In this talk we will (1) introduce our specific type of plasma, the dielectric-barrier discharge (DBD); (2) describe our newly constructed experimental system, which allows us to drive a DBD with a spatially varying electric field; (3) discuss spatial patterns formed by plasma filaments in a "lattice-driven" DBD; (4) present a preliminary study of the pairwise interactions between individual plasma filaments; and (5) introduce a DBD constrained by circular boundary conditions.
