We present a study on the dependence of electric breakdown discharge properties on electrode geometry and the breakdown field in liquid argon near its boiling point. The measurements were performed with a spherical cathode and a planar anode at distances ranging from 0.1 mm to 10.0 mm. A detailed study of the time evolution of the breakdown volt-ampere characteristics was performed for the first time. It revealed a slow streamer development phase in the discharge. The results of a spectroscopic study of the visible light emission of the breakdowns complement the measurements. The light emission from the initial phase of the discharge is attributed to electro-luminescence of liquid argon following a current of drifting electrons. These results contribute to set benchmarks for breakdown-safe design of ionization detectors, such as Liquid Argon Time Projection Chambers (LAr TPC).
@article{arxiv.1512.05968,
title = {On the Electric Breakdown in Liquid Argon at Centimeter Scale},
author = {M. Auger and A. Blatter and A. Ereditato and D. Goeldi and S. Janos and I. Kreslo and M. Luethi and C. Rudolf von Rohr and T. Strauss and M. S. Weber},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1512.05968},
year = {2016}
}
Comments
Minor revision according to editor report. 17 pages, 15 figures, 2 tables. Turboencabulator