A. V. Kozyrev, V. F. Tarasenko, E. Kh. Baksht, Yu. V. Shut'ko, “Soft X-ray generation and its role in breakdown of air gap at elevated pressures”, Pisma v Zhurnal Tekhnicheskoi Fiziki, 2011, Volume 37, Issue 22,Pages <nobr>26

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Soft X-ray generation and its role in breakdown of air gap at elevated pressures

A. V. Kozyrev, V. F. Tarasenko, E. Kh. Baksht, Yu. V. Shut'ko

Institute of High Current Electronics, Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Tomsk

Abstract: Fast runaway electrons, which appear during the electric breakdown in an air-filled discharge gap under the action of a short-front voltage pulse, generate 525-eV photons from the $K$-shell of oxygen. This soft X-ray emission effectively generates new electrons in the region of enhanced field. The proposed mechanism may explain the fast streamer propagation and the formation of a diffuse discharge at atmospheric pressure.

Received: 17.06.2011