Influence of combined gas and vacuum breakdown mechanisms on memory effect in nitrogen

The phenomenon of memory effect in nitrogen and air has been investigated in presence of combined vacuum and gas breakdown mechanisms. The experiment sample allowed the gas pressure at constant value, while the inter-electrode distance were changed from 0.01 cm to 0.18 cm. Shown dependence of static breakdown voltage vs. the product of gas pressure and inter-electrode distance confirmed the constant voltage value in region of vacuum breakdown mechanism, as well as the existence of Paschen's minimum for pd ≈ 0.8 mbar cm. The processes responsible for discharge sustaining in nitrogen were discussed using the memory curves for two different values of product of gas pressure and inter-electrode distance pd. In addition, the comparative analysis of the difference in electrical time delay values in nitrogen and air has been also performed. •Static breakdown voltage vs. product of inter-electrode gap and gas pressure.•Influence of combined gas and vacuum breakdown mechanism to nitrogen memory effect.•Processes of discharge sustaining in nitrogen for two different values of pd product.•Comparative analysis of difference in electrical time delay in nitrogen and air.