High-resolution measurements of the electric field at the streamer arrival to the cathode: A unification of the streamer-initiated gas-breakdown mechanism
| Authors | |
|---|---|
| Year of publication | 2012 |
| Type | Article in Periodical |
| Magazine / Source | Physical review E |
| MU Faculty or unit | |
| Citation | |
| Web | http://pre.aps.org/abstract/PRE/v86/i5/e055401 |
| Doi | http://dx.doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevE.86.055401 |
| Field | Plasma physics |
| Keywords | TCSPC; cathode-directed streamer; Trichel pulse |
| Description | A time-correlated single-photon counting technique was used to verify the formation of a cathode-directed streamer inside the narrow cathode region following the interpulse phase of regular negative corona Trichel pulses in ambient air. A purely experimental approach was used to determine the spatiotemporal development of the electric field during the Trichel pulse rise with an extremely high resolution of 10 um and tens of picoseconds. The results confirm the positive-streamer mechanism for Trichel pulse formation and provide supportive evidence for the hypothesis that the formation of a primary cathode-directed streamer occurs always in any streamer-initiated breakdown and prebreakdown phenomena associated with cathode spot formation. |
| Related projects: |