Transition between breakdown regimes in a temperature-dependent mixture of argon and mercury using 100 kHz excitation

The paper examines the breakdown process at 100 kHz in a changing temperature-dependent mixture of Ar and Hg and the associated transitions between breakdown regimes. Each measurement series started at 1400 K, 10 bar of Hg, and 0.05% admixture of Ar and finished by natural cooling at room temperature, 150 mbar of Ar, and 0.01% admixture of Hg. The E/N at breakdown as a function of temperature and gas composition was found to have a particular shape with a peak at 600 K, when Hg makes up for 66% of the gaseous mixture and Ar 34%. This peak was found to be an effect of the mixture itself, not the temperature effects or the possible presence of electronegative species. The analysis has shown that at this frequency both streamer and diffuse breakdown can take place, depending on the temperature and gas composition. Streamer discharges during breakdown are present at high temperatures and high Hg pressure, while at room temperature in 150 mbar of Ar the breakdown has a diffuse nature. In between those two cases, the radius of the discharges during breakdown was found to change in a monotonic manner, covering one order of magnitude from the size typical for streamer discharges to a diffuse discharge comparable to the size of the reactor.