PREBREAKDOWN STAGE OF A SURFACE DISCHARGE FIRED BY A 
PULSE IN THE AIR AT ATMOSPHERIC PRESSURE

V. B. Avramenko

UDC 533.95

Results of investigation of a high-current plane pulsed 
surface discharge with separated torches fired in the air at atmospheric 
pressure are presented. The dynamics of ignition and development of 
the discharge in the prebreakdown stage has been considered. The main 
parameters of the plasma in the prebreakdown stage (the stage of intense 
prebreakdown glow) have been determined by spectroscopic methods and 
the influence of the dielectric material of a substrate on the plasma 
parameters has been analyzed. It has been established that the duration 
of an intense prebreakdown glow depends on the experimental conditions. 
A physical pattern of formation of an intense prebreakdown glow is 
proposed.

Institute of Molecular and Atomic Physics, National Academy 
of Sciences of Belarus, 70 F. Skorina Ave., Minsk, 220072, Belarus. 
Translated from Inzhenerno-Fizicheskii Zhurnal, Vol. 78, No. 1, pp. 
178-185, January-February, 2005. Original article submitted 
June 1, 2004.