Discharge current and current of supershort avalanche E-beam at volume nanosecond discharge in non-uniform electric field

Abstract

Generation time of supeshort avalanche electron beam (SAEB) with respect to discharge current front has been established at nanosecond breakdown of air under atmospheric pressure in non-uniform electric field and volume discharge formation. It has been shown that SAEB current maximum is registered at the leading edge of the discharge current before the peak of discharge current of the gas diode capacitance, advancing such peak by ∼100 ps. The amplitude of bias current above 1 kA has been registered. The amplitude of bias current is increased due to capacitor charging, formed by the dense plasma, expanding from the cathode, and the flat metallic anode.