Analysis of pre-breakdown current pulses in gas discharge gaps

Abstract

The paper presents the theory relating the shape of the observed current pulses of individual electron avalanches to the physical processes involved, and indicates how measurements from the observed pulses can yield quantitative data on these processes. The theory is developed separately for gases which do not form negative ions and for those which do. The initial part of the paper is similar to previous work by K. J. Schmidt, with the differences that, in the present work, the case of avalanches initiated part-way across the gap is discussed and that it is not assumed here that the positive and negative ions have equal drift velocities. The final Section of the paper considers the effect of inductance in the circuit containing the discharge gap.