Air-Flux Sensitivity of the Pulses of the Negative Point to Plane Corona in Air at Atmospheric Pressure

Abstract

THE negative point to plane corona, glowing at atmospheric pressure in air, may be looked upon as a result of a large number of self-quenched electron avalanches per unit time. The effect of self-quenching occurs only in the case when an electronegative gas component is present and is due to a cloud of negative ions influencing strongly the electric field in the vicinity of the sharp end of the cathode¹. When a sufficiently high potential difference exists between the cathode and a flat anode, the current pulses follow each other with a high frequency and the negative ions strongly decrease the amplitudes of the voltage pulses occurring on the resistance R placed in series with the point cathode^2,3. For a sufficiently high frequency of the electron avalanches (increases with the applied voltage), the following approximation should describe the change of the amplitude of the voltage pulses due to the negative-ion concentration or pulse-frequency: