title: Application of dynamic displacement current for diagnostics of subnanosecond breakdowns in an inhomogeneous electric field.
abstract: The breakdown of different air gaps at high overvoltages in an inhomogeneous electric field was investigated with a time resolution of up to 100 ps. Dynamic displacement current was used for diagnostics of ionization processes between the ionization wave front and a plane anode. It is demonstrated that during the generation of a supershort avalanche electron beam (SAEB) with amplitudes of ~10 A and more, conductivity in the air gaps at the breakdown stage is ensured by the ionization wave, whose front propagates from the electrode of small curvature radius, and by the dynamic displacement current between the ionization wave front and the plane electrode. The amplitude of the dynamic displacement current measured by a current shunt is 100 times greater than the SAEB. It is shown that with small gaps and with a large cathode diameter, the amplitude of the dynamic displacement current during a subnanosecond rise time of applied pulse voltage can be higher than 4 kA.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Electrical Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China. st@mail.iee.ac.cn
authors.forename: Tao
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Shao
authors.forename: Victor F
authors.initials: VF
authors.lastname: Tarasenko
authors.forename: Cheng
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Alexandr G
authors.initials: AG
authors.lastname: Burachenko
authors.forename: Dmitry V
authors.initials: DV
authors.lastname: Rybka
authors.forename: Igor' D
authors.initials: ID
authors.lastname: Kostyrya
authors.forename: Mikhail I
authors.initials: MI
authors.lastname: Lomaev
authors.forename: Evgeni Kh
authors.initials: EKh
authors.lastname: Baksht
authors.forename: Ping
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Yan