Abstract: Flow control technology using dielectric barrier discharge plasma actuators which are driven by a sinusoidal alternating current high-voltage power is an active flow control technology based on plasma actuation and has some advantages, such as short response time, simple structure, low consumption power, and no need for additional air source devices. It has broad application prospects in lift enhancement and drag reduction, vibration suppression and noise reduction, assisted combustion and anti-icing. In view of the three problems that most of the power consumed by the plasma actuator has not been exploited, the whole evolution process of the induced flow field has not been fully understood, and the evolution mechanism of the induced flow field is not clear, the present manuscript summarizes the research progress of the induced flow field of the plasma actuator from the three aspects which include the spatial structure, the space-time evolution process and the evolution mechanism of the induced flow field of the plasma actuator. For flow structures of the induced flow field, the turbulent characteristics of induced wall jet under high voltage excitation are found, and the correlation mechanism between coherent structure in the vicinity of wall and non-dimensional actuation parameters is analyzed; The potential energy of the plasma actuator is excavated from the aspect of the acoustic energy induced by the plasma actuator, and the new phenomenon of "the ultrasound and the acoustic streaming flow created by the plasma actuator" is found, and the novel mechanism of acoustic excitation created by the plasma actuators is proposed; In the aspect of the spatial-temporal evolution process, the complete evolution process of the flow field induced by the plasma actuator from the thin wall jet to the "arch" jet, then to the starting vortex, and finally to the quasi-steady wall jet is uncovered; In terms of the evolution mechanism, the evolution mechanism of the induced flow field is proposed based on the acoustic characteristics. In addition, to break through the bottleneck of flow control technology using plasma actuators and open up the innovation link of "concept innovation - technology breakthrough - demonstration and verification", a few opening issues on the flow field generated by the plasma actuators are presented.