Abstract
We report the generation and characterization of dc helium microdischarges at several times atmospheric pressure in monolithic diamond hollow-cathode devices having cavity diameters on the order of 100 μm. I–V characteristics indicated operation in the glow discharge regime even at nearly 10 atm, while spectroscopic measurements of the N2 C3Πu → B3Πg emission returned rotational temperatures always around 420 K, with a pressure-dependent vibrational population distribution. The variation of breakdown voltage with pressure closely followed Paschen’s law, but with offsets in both axes that we tentatively ascribe to strong diffusive loss and a partial thermalization of electron energies under the high pressures considered here.
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