Dynamics and breakdown delay times in neon-ethene and neon-propene photo-triggered discharges

Abstract

The breakdown delay time and temporal evolutions of the current and voltage for homogeneous photo-triggered discharges were studied in mixtures of neon with C2H4 or C3H6 at 1 bar total pressure. Experimental results were compared to predictions of a fully self-consistent modelling of the discharge. Over the whole range of initial reduced electric fields (5<E/N<35 Td) and hydrocarbon concentrations (0.1-10%), a very good agreement was obtained between measurements and computations. This provides an overall validation of the data used in the model and particularly of the electron-molecule collision cross-sections, for which a complete set is proposed for the first time in the case of propene. Moreover, a detailed analysis of the ionization processes is given, which provides insights into the dependence of the breakdown delay times with respect to the hydrocarbon concentration and the initial reduced electric field values.