Publications Details
Gaseous Prebreakdown Processes That Are Important For Pulsed Power Switching [Book Chapter]
This paper is the latest in a series of papers that attempt to relate the multiple observed gas breakdown phenomena to useful switch design parameters. This series started when the as density, not the gas type, was observed to give a power law relationship for the breakdown delay time delays of several gases to the applied electric field. This paper will show that this triggering or breakdown initiating process is similar to, if not the same as, a corona discharge. A hypothesis is made and a simple voltage breakdown relationship is shown to exist for air gaps between 1 and 1000 cm for sharp electrodes to a plane.