Deviations from the Paschen's law at short gap distances from 100 nm to 10  μ m in air and nitrogen

Deviations from the Paschen's law in air and nitrogen are investigated for gaps from 100 nm to 10 μm, by using a high precision electrode positioning system. The deviation is observed when electrode gaps are smaller than 4 μm at atmospheric pressure. At distances lower than 1 μm, a nearly const...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Applied physics letters 2014-09, Vol.105 (12)
Main Authors: Peschot, A., Bonifaci, N., Lesaint, O., Valadares, C., Poulain, C.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Applied physics
Breakdown
Electric power
Electrodes
Engineering Sciences
Field emission
Gold
Metallic plasmas
Paschen's law
Prebreakdown
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Summary:Deviations from the Paschen's law in air and nitrogen are investigated for gaps from 100 nm to 10 μm, by using a high precision electrode positioning system. The deviation is observed when electrode gaps are smaller than 4 μm at atmospheric pressure. At distances lower than 1 μm, a nearly constant average breakdown field of 350 V/μm is evidenced in both gases with Au and Ru electrodes. A metallic plasma initiated by field emission from the cathode can explain the reduction of the breakdown voltage at such low gaps. In ambient air, the existence of a pre-breakdown current is also evidenced, probably due to the presence of water adsorbed on electrodes.
ISSN:0003-6951
1077-3118
DOI:10.1063/1.4895630