Time-resolved investigation of nanosecond discharge in dense gas sustained by short and long high-voltage pulse

S. Yatom^1a, J. Z. Gleizer¹, D. Levko¹, V. Vekselman¹, V. Gurovich¹, E. Hupf², Y. Hadas³ and Ya. E. Krasik¹

¹ Physics Department, Technion - 32000 Haifa, Israel
² Department of Physics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology - 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02139-4307, USA
³ Rafael - P.O. Box 2250, 31021 Haifa, Israel

^a shurikyatom@gmail.com

Received: 3 August 2011
Accepted: 2 November 2011

Abstract

The results of experimental and numerical studies of the generation of runaway electrons (RAE) in a pressurized air-filled diode under the application of 20 ns, 5 ns and 1 ns duration high-voltage pulses with an amplitude up to 160 kV are presented. It is shown that with a 1 ns pulse, RAE with energy ⩾20 keV reach the anode prior to the formation of the plasma channel between the cathode and anode. Conversely, with 20 ns or 5 ns pulses, RAE with energy ⩾20 keV were obtained at the anode only after the formation of the plasma channel. In addition, the high- and low-impedance stages of the development of the discharge were found. Finally, a comparison between experimental and numerical simulation results is presented.