In order to perform data acquisition and avoid unwanted over-current damage to the power supply, a convenient and real-time method of experimentally investigating repetitive nanosecond-pulse breakdown in polymer dielectric samples is presented. The measurement-acquisition and control system not only records breakdown voltage and current, and time-to-breakdown duration, but also provides a real-time power-off protection for the power supply. Furthermore, the number of applied pulses can be calculated by the product of the time-to-breakdown duration and repetition rate. When the measured time-to-breakdown duration error is taken into account, the repetition rate of applied nanosecond-pulses should be below 40kHz. In addition, some experimental data on repetitive nanosecond-pulse breakdown of polymer films are presented and discussed.
Dielectric barrier discharge （DBD） between two cylindrical glass containers with salt water generated by a nanosecond repetitively pulsed power generator is reported. The electrical parameters, luminous images and spectrum diagnosis are presented. It is shown that the DBD possesses a large discharge current and an intense optical emission from the nitrogen second positive system below 400 nm. The gas temperature remains very close to room temperature regardless of pulse polarity. Luminous photographs with a short exposure time down to 2 ns indicate that no filament is observed and the discharge is homogeneous.
