and are formed by channel streamers that repeatedly strike at the same place as the polarity of the applied voltage changes, thus appearing to the eye as bright filaments. The extinction voltage of the microdischarges is not far below the voltage
of their ignition. Charge accumulation on the surface of the dielectric barrier reduces the electric field
at the location of a microdischarge, which results in current termination within tens of nanoseconds
after breakdown. The short duration of current in microdischarges leads to low heat dissipation, and the
DBD plasma remains strongly nonthermal.