An atmospheric pressure surface dielectric barrier discharge (SDBD) in helium-nitrogen
mixtures is investigated experimentally using phase-resolved optical emission spectroscopy
(PROES) and computationally employing a two-dimensional simulation framework. A good
qualitative agreement between experiments and simulations is found. It is shown that by
applying microsecond or nanosecond driving voltage waveform pulses, the discharge exhibits
filamentary or homogeneous structures. The time evolution/propagation of the homogeneous
surface ionization wave for different nitrogen admixtures, pressures, and applied voltage is
studied and analyzed. Both, simulations and experiments indicate that for the positive applied
voltage pulse, a streamer possessing the typical dynamics of the positive streamer is ignited
on the powered side of the electrode. At the same time, on the grounded sides, two streamers
are formed: one possessing the dynamics of a negative streamer, which propagates towards
the center of the cell of the electrode grid, and a positive one in the opposite direction. It
is also shown that the positive streamers on the powered side are partly responsible for the
velocity of the negative streamers on the grounded side as simulations show a deceleration of
the negative streamers as soon as two positive streamers collide and then close to the meeting
point vanish due to the repulsive electrostatic interactions between them. Additionally, from
the time-resolved measurements of the emission signal, the quenching rate constants of the He-I
(3s)3S1 state by collisions with helium and nitrogen are determined to be 9(±4) × 10−12 cm3s−1
and 3(±1) × 10−10 cm3s−1, respectively at T = 400 ± 50 K.