Diffuse mode and diffuse-to-filamentary transition in a high pressure nanosecond scale corona discharge under high voltage
Abstract
The dynamics of a point-to-plane corona discharge induced in high pressure air under nanosecond scale high overvoltage is investigated. The electrical and optical properties of the discharge can be described in space and time with fast and precise current measurements coupled to gated and intensified imaging. Under atmospheric pressure, the discharge exhibits a diffuse pattern like a multielectron avalanche propagating through a direct field ionization mechanism. The diffuse regime can exist since the voltage rise time is much shorter than the characteristic time of the field screening effects, and as long as the local field is higher than the critical ionization field in air. As one of these conditions is not fulfilled, the discharge turns into a multi-channel regime and the diffuse-to-filamentary transition strongly depends on the overvoltage, the point-to-plane gap length and the pressure. When pressure is increased above atmospheric pressure, the diffuse stage and its transition to streamers seem to satisfy similarity rules as the key parameter is the reduced critical ionization field only. However, above 3 bar, neither diffuse avalanche nor streamer filaments are observed but a kind of streamer-leader regime, due to the fact that mechanisms such as photoionization and heat diffusion are not similar to pressure.
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BibTeX
@article{tardiveau2026diffuse,
title = {{Diffuse mode and diffuse-to-filamentary transition in a high pressure nanosecond scale corona discharge under high voltage}},
author = {Pierre Tardiveau and N Moreau and Sabrina Bentaleb and Chantal Postel and Stéphane Pasquiers},
journal = {Journal of Physics D: Applied Physics},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.1088/0022-3727/42/17/175202},
url = {https://hal.science/hal-05218318v1},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Diffuse mode and diffuse-to-filamentary transition in a high pressure nanosecond scale corona discharge under high voltage
AU - Pierre Tardiveau
AU - N Moreau
AU - Sabrina Bentaleb
AU - Chantal Postel
AU - Stéphane Pasquiers
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/08
JO - Journal of Physics D: Applied Physics
DO - 10.1088/0022-3727/42/17/175202
UR - https://hal.science/hal-05218318v1
AB - The dynamics of a point-to-plane corona discharge induced in high pressure air under nanosecond scale high overvoltage is investigated. The electrical and optical properties of the discharge can be described in space and time with fast and precise current measurements coupled to gated and intensified imaging. Under atmospheric pressure, the discharge exhibits a diffuse pattern like a multielectron avalanche propagating through a direct field ionization mechanism. The diffuse regime can exist since the voltage rise time is much shorter than the characteristic time of the field screening effects, and as long as the local field is higher than the critical ionization field in air. As one of these conditions is not fulfilled, the discharge turns into a multi-channel regime and the diffuse-to-filamentary transition strongly depends on the overvoltage, the point-to-plane gap length and the pressure. When pressure is increased above atmospheric pressure, the diffuse stage and its transition to streamers seem to satisfy similarity rules as the key parameter is the reduced critical ionization field only. However, above 3 bar, neither diffuse avalanche nor streamer filaments are observed but a kind of streamer-leader regime, due to the fact that mechanisms such as photoionization and heat diffusion are not similar to pressure.
SN - 0022-3727
SN - 1361-6463
ER -