THE BREAKDOWN MECHANISMS IN ELECTRICAL DISCHARGES: THE ROLE OF THE FIELD EMISSION EFFECT IN DIRECT CURRENT DISCHARGES IN MICROGAPS

This review represents an attempt to sum up the current state of the research in the field of breakdown phenomena in electrical discharges. The paper provides facts and theories concerning different classes of direct current, radio and microwave frequency discharges, in vacuum, in the gas and in liquids, without and in the presence of the magnetic fields. The emphasize was made on the field emission effects and on the fundamental aspects of the breakdown phenomena in microdischarges via discussions and analysis of the experimental, theoretical and simulation results. It was found that the Paschen's law is not applicable for the micron gap sizes, when deviations from the standard scaling law become evident and modified Paschen curve should be used. The explanation of the deviations from the Paschen law was attributed to the secondary electron emission enhanced by the strong field generated in microgaps.