Slow decay of radiation after a pulsed streamer discharge in pure nitrogen

Light emission and electrical characteristics in the early post-discharge of a high purity nitrogen streamer have been investigated. Up to the millisecond regime, both light emission and current are significant, while the voltage has decayed after several tens of microseconds. The corresponding decay time constants are 240 µs and 580 µs for the current and radiance, respectively, versus 3.8 µs for the voltage decay. This suggests that energy transfer to high vibrational levels of N2 (X 1 Σ, ν) and high population of metastable N2 (A3 Σ+ ) species are important in sustaining the discharge

Inception and propagation of positive streamers in high-purity nitrogen: effects of the voltage rise-rate

Controlling streamer morphology is important for numerous applications. Up to now, the effect of the voltage rise rate was only studied across a wide range. Here we show that even slight variations in the voltage rise can have significant effects. We have studied positive streamer discharges in a 16 cm point-plane gap in high-purity nitrogen 6.0, created by 25 kV pulses with a duration of 130 ns. The voltage rise varies by a rise rate from 1.9 to 2.7 kV ns−1 and by the first peak voltage of 22 to 28 kV. A structural link is found between smaller discharges with a larger inception cloud caused by a faster rising voltage. This relation is explained by the greater stability of the inception cloud due to a faster voltage rise, causing a delay in the destabilization. Time-resolved measurements show that the inception cloud propagates slower than an earlier destabilized, more filamentary discharge. This explains that the discharge with a faster rising voltage pulse ends up being shorter. Furthermore, the effect of remaining background ionization in a pulse sequence has been studied, showing that channel thickness and branching rate are locally affected, depending on the covered volume of the previous discharge

Streamer knotwilg branching; sudden transition in morphology of positive streamers in nitrogen

We describe a peculiar branching phenomenon in positive repetitive streamer discharges in high purity nitrogen. We name it knotwilg branching after the Dutch word for a pollard willow tree. In a knotwilg branching a thick streamer suddenly splits into many thin streamers. Under some conditions this happens for all streamers in a discharge at about the same distance from the high-voltage electrode tip. At this distance, the thick streamers suddenly bend sharply and appear to propagate over a virtual surface surrounding the high-voltage electrode, rather than following the background electric field lines. From these bent thick streamers many, much thinner, streamers emerge that roughly follow the background electric field lines, creating the characteristic knotwilg branching. We have only found this particular morphology in high purity nitrogen at pressures in the range 50 to 200 mbar and for pulse repetition rates above 1 Hz; the experiments were performed for an electrode distance of 16 cm and for fast voltage pulses of 20 or 30 kV. These observations clearly disagree with common knowledge on streamer propagation. We have analyzed the data of several tens of thousands of discharges to clarify the phenomena. We also present some thoughts on how the ionization of the previous discharges could concentrate into some pre-ionization region near the needle electrode and create the knotwilg morphology, but we present no final explanation

Extra-terrestrial sprites: laboratory investigations in planetary gas mixtures

We investigate streamers in gas mixtures representing the atmospheres of Jupiter, Saturn (H2-He) and Venus (CO2-N2). Streamer diameters, velocities, radiance and overall morphology are investigated with fast ICCD camera images. We confirm experimentally the scaling of streamer diameters in these gases by studying streamers with minimal diameters. The brightness of laboratory streamers is investigated, and a scaling model for atmospheric sprites is proposed. Fitting the scaling model with measurements, we give an estimate of minimal sprite brightness on Earth, Jupiter and Saturn. The estimated brightness of terrestrial sprites agrees well with observations and with existing models, and may serve as a benchmark for space-based observations of TLEs by planetary missions such as Cassini and Juno

Electrical diagnostics in a HV corona streamer discharge setup:Improved current measurement through electromagnetic frequency response analysis

Current diagnostics of a high voltage corona discharge setup are analyzed, because the presence of high amplitude oscillations prohibited to obtain a realistic current signal. By means of an electromagnetic computation in FEKO, the observed oscillations have been identified. Current distributions indicated setup improvement by adding a 50Ω damping resistor in the circuit. A realistic current signal is now obtained.</p

Electrical diagnostics in a HV corona streamer discharge setup: Improved current measurement through electromagnetic frequency response analysis

Current diagnostics of a high voltage corona discharge setup are analyzed, because the presence of high amplitude oscillations prohibited to obtain a realistic current signal. By means of an electromagnetic computation in FEKO, the observed oscillations have been identified. Current distributions indicated setup improvement by adding a 50Ω damping resistor in the circuit. A realistic current signal is now obtained

Streamer knotwilg branching : sudden transition in morphology of positive streamers in high-purity nitrogen

We describe a peculiar branching phenomenon in positive repetitive streamer discharges in high purity nitrogen. We name it knotwilg branching after the Dutch word for a pollard willow tree. In a knotwilg branching a thick streamer suddenly splits into many thin streamers. Under some conditions this happens for all streamers in a discharge at about the same distance from the high-voltage electrode tip. At this distance, the thick streamers suddenly bend sharply and appear to propagate over a virtual surface surrounding the high-voltage electrode, rather than following the background electric field lines. From these bent thick streamers many, much thinner, streamers emerge that roughly follow the background electric field lines, creating the characteristic knotwilg branching. We have only found this particular morphology in high purity nitrogen at pressures in the range 50 to 200 mbar and for pulse repetition rates above 1 Hz; the experiments were performed for an electrode distance of 16¿cm and for fast voltage pulses of 20 or 30¿kV. These observations clearly disagree with common knowledge on streamer propagation. We have analyzed the data of several tens of thousands of discharges to clarify the phenomena. We also present some thoughts on how the ionization of the previous discharges could concentrate into some pre-ionization region near the needle electrode and create the knotwilg morphology, but we present no final explanation