Features of streamer formation in a sharply non-uniform electric field

The streamer formation in a point-to-plane gap filled with atmospheric-pressure air has been experimentally studied using a streak camera and a four-channel intensified charge-coupled device camera with simultaneously recording waveforms of voltage and discharge current pulses. A large diameter streamer was observed at various amplitudes of nanosecond voltage pulses. The instantaneous streamer velocity was measured using the streak camera. It was found that the streamer has a high velocity at the initial stage of development, but it rapidly decreases. The minimum streamer velocity corresponds to the maximum diameter. The streamer velocity increases again by an order of magnitude when it approaches the opposite electrode. It was found that the streamer velocity correlates with the value of a displacement current induced by its propagation. At the initial stage of the streamer development during subnanosecond breakdown, the displacement current can reach several kiloamperes; this is comparable to the conduction current after the breakdown. Published under license by AIP Publishing.