Inter-Electrode Distance and Breakdown Voltage in Low Pressure Argon Discharges

This work deals with the Paschen law in electrical breakdown of gases at pd values around the Paschen minimum. From the Townsend model, it is possible to deduce theoretical forms of the coefficients in Paschen's law, of which our calculated values are in the range of the tabulated values from the literature. These formulae show that the breakdown voltage must be influenced by the inter‐electrode distance, while the product pd remains a key parameter. This is confirmed by the Paschen curves measured in an argon discharge for inter‐electrode distances varying from 2 to 9 cm (© 2012 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)