Gas Breakdown of Radio Frequency Glow Discharges in Helium at near Atmospheric Pressure

A one-dimensional self-consistent fluid model was developed for radio frequency glow discharge in helium at near atmospheric pressure, and was employed to study the gas breakdown characteristics in terms of breakdown voltage. The effective secondary electron emission coefficient and the effective electric field for ions were demonstrated to be important for determining the breakdown voltage of radio frequency glow discharge at near atmospheric pressure. The constant of A was estimated to be 64：t=4 cm-lTorr-1, which was proportional to the first Townsend coefficient and could be employed to evaluate the gas breakdown voltage. The reduction in the breakdown voltage of radio frequency glow discharge with excitation frequency was studied and attributed to the electron trapping effect in the discharge gap.

Gas breakdown in radio-frequency field within MHz range:a review of the state of the art

Low-temperature plasmas(LTPs) driven by 1-100 MHz radio-frequency(MRF) are essential for many industrial applications,and their breakdown characteristics are different to that of direct current(DC) breakdown.This review seeks to understand the state of the art of electric breakdown in the MRF field and provide references for related basic and applied research.We have given a brief history of research into MRF-driven breakdown,including Paschen curves,the corresponding discharge modes and parameter spaces,and the evolution of the parameters during the breakdown process.It is shown that the focus has been transferred from the breakdown voltage and V-I characteristics to the evolution of plasma parameters during the breakdown,both in experiments and simulations.It is shown that many fundamental and applied problems still need to be investigated,especially with the new global model and the incorporation of the external circuit model.

Microwave propagation with the gas breakdown

By combining the microwave propagation theory and the gas breakdown theory, the microwave propagation with the gas breakdown is analyzed theoretically. Particle-in-cell/Monte Carlo collision （PIC/MCC） simulations are carried out to verify the theoretical results. Based on this theoretical method, the breakdown phenomenon of the pulse microwave is analyzed. The results show that the product values of the initial electron density and the propagation length are the criterion to distinguish the pulse peak decline breakdown and the pulse width reduction breakdown. Furthermore, the energy transmission is also studied, which shows that the total output energy is approximately independent of the input electric field if the electric field is not extremely large.

Validity of the two-term Boltzmann approximation employed in the fluid model for high-power microwave breakdown in gas

The electron energy distribution function （EEDF）, predicted by the Boltzmann equation solver BOLSIG＋ based on the two-term approximation, is introduced into the fluid model for simulating the high-power microwave （HPM） breakdown in argon, nitrogen, and air, and its validity is examined by comparing with the results of particle-in-cell Monte Carlo collision （PIC/MCC） simulations as well as the experimental data. Numerical results show that, the breakdown time of the fluid model with the Maxwellian EEDF matches that of the PIC/MCC simulations in nitrogen; however, in argon under high pressures, the results from the Maxwellian EEDF were poor. This is due to an overestimation of the energy tail of the Maxwellian EEDF in argon breakdown. The prediction of the fluid model with the BOLSIG＋ EEDF, however, agrees very well with the PIC/MCC prediction in nitrogen and argon over a wide range of pressures. The accuracy of the fluid model with the BOLSIG＋ EEDF is also verified by the experimental results of the air breakdown.

Experimental study of polarity dependence in repetitive nanosecond-pulse breakdown

Pulsed breakdown of dry air at ambient pressure has been investigated in the point-plane geometry, using repetitive nanosecond pulses with 10 ns risetime, 20-30 ns duration, and up to 100 kV amplitude. A major concern in this paper is to study the dependence of breakdown strength on the point-electrode polarity. Applied voltage, breakdown current and repetitive stressing time are measured under the experimental conditions of some variables including pulse voltage peak, gap spacing and repetition rate. The results show that increasing the E-field strength can decrease breakdown time lag, repetitive stressing time and the number of applied pulses as expected. However, compared with the traditional polarity dependence it is weakened and not significant in the repetitive nanosecond-pulse breakdown. The ambiguous polarity dependence in the experimental study is involved with an accumulation effect of residual charges and metastable states. Moreover, it is suggested that the reactions associated with the detachment of negative ions and impact deactivation of metastable species could provide a source of primary initiating electrons for breakdown.

Short-pulse high-power microwave breakdown at high pressures

The fluid model is proposed to investigate the gas breakdown driven by a short-pulse（such as a Gaussian pulse） highpower microwave at high pressures.However,the fluid model requires specification of the electron energy distribution function（EEDF）;the common assumption of a Maxwellian EEDF can result in the inaccurate breakdown prediction when the electrons are not in equilibrium.We confirm that the influence of the incident pulse shape on the EEDF is tiny at high pressures by using the particle-in-cell Monte Carlo collision（PIC-MCC） model.As a result,the EEDF for a rectangular microwave pulse directly derived from the Boltzmann equation solver Bolsig＋ is introduced into the fluid model for predicting the breakdown threshold of the non-rectangular pulse over a wide range of pressures,and the obtained results are very well matched with those of the PIC-MCC simulations.The time evolution of a non-rectangular pulse breakdown in gas,obtained by the fluid model with the EEDF from Bolsig＋,is presented and analyzed at different pressures.In addition,the effect of the incident pulse shape on the gas breakdown is discussed.

Study on the Two-Dimensional Density Distribution for Gas Plasmas Driven by Laser Pulse

We perform an experimental study of two-dimensional（2D） electron density profiles of the laser-induced plasma plumes in air by ordinarily laboratorial interferometry. The electron density distributions measured show a feature of hollow core. To illustrate the feature, we present a theoretical investigation by using dynamics analysis. In the simulation, the propagation of laser pulse with the evolution of electron density is utilized to evaluate ionization of air target for the plasma-formation stage. In the plasma-expansion stage, a simple adiabatic fluid dynamics is used to calculate the evolution of plasma outward expansion. The simulations show good agreements with experimental results, and demonstrate an effective way of determining 2D density profiles of the laser-induced plasma plume in gas.

The Influence of Electrode Surface Mercury Film Deformation on the Breakdown Voltage of a Sub-Nanosecond Pulse Discharge Tube

A sub-nanosecond pulse discharge tube is a gas discharge tube which can generate a rapid high-voltage pulse of kilo-volts in amplitude and sub-nanoseconds in width. In this paper, the sub-nanosecond pulse discharge tube and its working principles are described. Because of the phenomenon that the deformation process of the mercury film on the electrode surface lags behind the charging process, the mercury film deformation process affects the dynamic breakdown voltage of the tube directly. The deformation of the mercury film is observed microscopically, and the dynamic breakdown voltage of the tube is messured using an oscillograph. The results show that all the parameters in the charging process, such as charging resistance, charging capacitance and DC power supply, affect the dynamic breakdown voltage of the tube. Based on these studies, the output pulse amplitude can be controlled continuously and individually by adjusting the power supply voltage. When the DC power supply is adjusted from 7 kV to 10 kV, the dynamic breakdown voltage ranges from 6.5 kV to 10 kV. According to our research, a kind of sub-nanosecond pulse generator is made, with a pulse width ranging from 0.5 ns to 2.5 ns, a rise time from 0.32 ns to 0.58 ns, and a pulse amplitude that is adjustable from 1.5 kV to 5 kV.

Discharge characteristics of a needle-to-plate electrode at a micro-scale gap

To understand the discharge characteristics under a gap of micrometers,the breakdown voltage and current–voltage curve are measured experimentally in a needle-to-plate electrode at a microscale gap of 3–50 μm in air.The effect of the needle radius and the gas pressure on the discharge characteristics are tested.The results show that when the gap is larger than 10 μm,the relation between the breakdown voltage and the gap looks like the Paschen curve;while below 10 μm,the breakdown voltage is nearly constant in the range of the tested gap.However,at the same gap distance,the breakdown voltage is still affected by the pressure and shows a trend similar to Paschen＇s law.The current–voltage characteristic in all the gaps is similar and follows the trend of a typical Townsend-to-glow discharge.A simple model is used to explain the non-normality of breakdown in the micro-gaps.The Townsend mechanism is suggested to control the breakdown process in this configuration before the gap reduces much smaller in air.

Theoretical simulation of high-voltage discharge with runaway electrons in sulfur hexafluoride at atmospheric pressure

The results of theoretical simulation of runaway electron generation in high-pressure pulsed gas discharge with inhomogeneous electric field are presented.Hydrodynamic and kinetic approaches are used simultaneously to describe the dynamics of different components of low-temperature discharge plasma.Breakdown of coaxial diode occurs in the form of a dense plasma region expanding from the cathode.On this background there is a formation of runaway electrons that are initiated by the ensemble of plasma electrons generated in the place locally enhanced electric field in front of dense plasma.It is shown that the power spectrum of fast electrons in the discharge contains electron group with the so-called“anomalous”energy.

Bremsstrahlung Radiation of Fast Electrons in Long Air Gaps

The results of an experiment on discharges in long atmospheric pressure air gaps at a pulsed voltage of amplitude up to 800 kV and risetime 150-200 ns are analyzed. In the experiment, a radiation pulse of photon energy 〉 5 keV and duration 10-20 ns has been detected. It has been shown that the x-ray pulse is due to the ＂runaway＂ of electrons from the head of an anode-directed streamer. The estimated maximum bremsstrahlung energy is about 5-10 keV. The presence of a maximum in the bremsstrahlung spectrum is due to that the photons emitted by electrons are absorbed by atoms of the gas in which the discharge operates.

Metal Particle Contamination in Gas-insulated Switchgears/Gas-insulated Transmission Lines

Metal particle contamination in a gas-insulated switchgear(GIS)or a gas-insulated transmission line(GIL)is an important factor leading to the decline of insulation performance.Exploring the deterioration mechanism and suppression measures of metal particles on insulation is a key technical problem in enhancing the dielectric strength of GIS/GIL equipment.In this paper,the charge and motion characteristics of metal particles are first introduced.The gas gap breakdown caused by free metal particles and the surface flashover caused by metal particles near or adsorbed on the insulator are then analyzed according to different particle motion patterns and spatial locations.Subsequently in terms of operation managements,the existing methods of particle detection are analyzed.In addition,the main inhibition methods of metal particles are introduced from three aspects:particle trap,insulator surface treatment and electrode coating.Finally,the prospects in the future research on particle pollution in GIS/GIL are also pointed out.