Studies of striated impulse coronas in helium/neon gas mixtures and air

Abstract

Some aspects of gas discharges have been studied with a streamer chamber. Specifically the origin of striations superimposed on Lichtenberg figures has been investigated.

It was observed that such effects could be seen in a columnar corona with a point-to-plane geometry.

The basic gas used was He/Ne, but some studies have also been carried out for atmospheric air. A variety of observations has been made at different voltages of both signs, pressures and gap widths.

It has been possible to gain some understanding of the mechanism of the initial creation of the striations, and some of the observations have resulted in quantitative estimates of the velocities of the advancing discharge wavefronts.