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Electron Collisions in Gas Switches*

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Nonequilibrium Processes in Partially Ionized Gases

Part of the book series: NATO ASI Series ((NSSB,volume 220))

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Abstract

Many technologies rely on the conduction/insulation properties1 of gaseous matter for their successful operation.2 Many others (e.g., pulsed power technologies) rely on the rapid change (switching or modulation) of the properties of gaseous matter from an insulator to a conductor and vice versa.2 Studies of electron collision processes in gases aided the development of pulsed power gas switches, and in this paper we shall briefly illustrate the kind of knowledge on electron collision processes which is needed to optimize the performance of such switching devices. To this end, we shall refer to three types of gas switches: (i) spark gap closing, (ii) self-sustained diffuse discharge closing, and (iii) externally-sustained diffuse discharge opening. The desirable properties and characteristics of these three types of switches are listed in Table 1, along with the required properties of the gaseous medium.

Table 1 Desirable Rnaracrerisfics of and Gas Pliysical Propertiesi/Processes for Lllree Types of Gas Switches
Full size table

Research sponsored by the Office of Health and Environmental Research, U.S. Department of Energy, under contract DE-ACO5-84OR214OO with Martin Marietta Energy Systems, Inc.

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References

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Atomic, Molecular, and High Voltage Physics Group, Health and Safety Research Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory and Department of Physics, University of Tennessee, USA

    Loucas G. Christophorou

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  1. Loucas G. Christophorou
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Chemistry and Centro di Studio per la Chimica dei Plasmi del CNR, University of Bari, Bari, Italy

    Mario Capitelli

  2. Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, California, USA

    J. Norman Bardsley

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Christophorou, L.G. (1990). Electron Collisions in Gas Switches* . In: Capitelli, M., Bardsley, J.N. (eds) Nonequilibrium Processes in Partially Ionized Gases. NATO ASI Series, vol 220. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-3780-9_18

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-3780-9_18

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4613-6685-0

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4615-3780-9

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