High-frequency electrical breakdown in electronegative gases with fast electron attachment and detachment processes

Abstract

Breakdown in a high-frequency uniform electric field in electronegative gases with fast electron attachment and detachment processes is theoretically studied. A process of electron pseudo diffusion introduced earlier by Aints et al is analysed, and a breakdown criterion is regularly derived using the great difference in rate scales for collisional processes. The criterion is generalized to account for an arbitrary number of negative ion species including those which are not involved in electron detachment reactions. The importance of the electron pseudo diffusion is illustrated for specified gases (air, N2O, etc). It is argued that the application of the concept of pseudo diffusion to the breakdown in air under the conditions of the experiment conducted previously by Aints et al is invalid.