Abstract:

The appearance of the critical point in the development of an electron avalanche radically changes features of a further gas discharge progress. The critical point is per se the final point of the initial electron avalanche. Starting from here, the avalanche transforms to plasma due to the termination of drift current, and electron ionization is carried out thanks to the energy accumulated in the interelectrode capacitance of the discharge gap. In other words, the avalanche develops due to internal resources and acquires a new spatial structure in the form of a double charge layer. Thus, the charge system turns into a self-organizing and evolving system which establishes, by going through a number of consistent transformations, the basis for formation of a streamer.

Dynamics of the consequent transition of the charge system into new stable structures is experimentally verified.