Computational study of cold atmospheric nanosecond pulsed helium plasma jet in air

A luminous plasma jet is produced when helium gas issuing into atmospheric pressure ambient air is excited by high voltage nanosecond pulsing of a dielectric covered electrode. A detailed computational modeling study of such a discharge is presented. The dynamics of streamer propagation, its dependence on the diffusional mixing layer between helium and air species, and the role of photoionization are discussed.