Vacuum surface flashover and high pressure gas streamers

Pre-breakdown current traces obtained during high pressure gas breakdown and vacuum surface flashover show similar signatures. The initial pre-breakdown current spike, a flat constant current phase, and the breakdown phase with voltage collapse and current surge differ mostly in magnitude. Given these similarities, a model, consisting of the initial current spike corresponding to a fast precursor streamer (ionization wave led by a photoionizing front), the flat current stage as the heating or glow phase, and the terminal avalanche and gap closure, is applied to vacuum surface flashover. A simple analytical approximation based on the resistivity changes induced in the vacuum and dielectric surface is presented. The approximation yields an excellent fit to pre-breakdown time delay versus applied field for previously published experimental data. A detailed kinetics model that includes surface and gas contributions is being developed based on the initial approximation.