Development of overvoltage breakdown at high gas pressure

Abstract

A model for the development of electrical breakdown in dense gases is presented. It describes the initial phase of breakdown in the regime where the Townsend avalanche mechanism does not apply. The main features of the model are as follows: (1) It gives a continuous picture of the development both in the structure of the breakdown and the physics of the processes, and (2) it is based on electron kinetics, so that the theory is general in scope. In light of this model a brief discussion of experimental results is given. © 1980 The American Physical Society.