Electron avalanches II - fractal morphology of partial microdischarge spots on dielectric barriers

Microdischarge spots appearing on surfaces of dielectric barriers in sandwiched electrode systems have been studied. The study has been focused on streamer microdischarges which are a subject of continual interest not only in plasma physics (dielectric barrier discharges) but also in HV technology (partial discharges). The microdischarge spots have been visualized using photographic films that have played the role of dielectric barriers in experiments. The digitized pictures of microdischarge spots have been subjected to multifractal analysis. An inner structure of spots has been revealed and ascribed to streamer heads. The monofractal nature of the overall sets of microdischarge spots as well as the monofractality of the borders of the dark spot centers has been indicated. The inner structure of the dark centers has been classified as a non-fractal planar object. The study represents a first attempt to analyze microdischarge spots on dielectric barriers using general multifractal formalism.