Experimental study of the spatio-temporal development of meter-scale negative discharge in air
Abstract
We study the development of a negative discharge driven by a Marx generator of about 1 MV in an air gap of 1 up to 1.5 meter, at standard temperature and pressure. We show the evolution of the discharge with nanosecond-fast photography together with the electrical characteristics. The negative discharge develops through four well-distinguished streamer bursts. The streamers have different velocities and life times in different bursts. The last burst triggers a positive inception cloud on the positive grounded electrode and a burst of positive counter-streamers emerges. The pre-discharge then bridges the gap and leaders grow from both electrodes. Finally a spark is formed. Looking closer into the pre-ionized zone near the cathode, we find isolated dots which are potential branching points. These dots act as starting points for positive streamers that move towards the high-voltage electrode. We also find such phenomena as space leaders and leader stepping in our laboratory sparks.
Keywords
Cite
@article{arxiv.1312.4765,
title = {Experimental study of the spatio-temporal development of meter-scale negative discharge in air},
author = {P. O. Kochkin and A. P. J. van Deursen and U. Ebert},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1312.4765},
year = {2014}
}
Comments
24 pages, 16 figures