Paschen law for argon glow discharge

Abstract

Electric discharge between two electrically charged surfaces occurs at a well-defined, gas-dependent combination of atmospheric pressure and the distance between those surfaces, as described by Paschen's law. The understanding of when the discharge will occur in an Ar discharge is essential basic knowledge. A glow discharge apparatus was used in this experiment of Ar discharge at a pressure range between 2.0 Torr and 12 Torr, a power of 20 W and 40 l/min flow rate of gases. The optical emission spectroscopy was carried out in the wavelength range of 200 to 1100 nm. Here, we present experimentally measured plasma Paschen curves for Ar gas and compare our results of breakdown voltages with the literature. The minimum voltage measured for a discharge in Ar atmosphere was 215 ± 2.2 at 0.7 Torr-cm, which agree with previous measurements.