Eur. Phys. J. Appl. Phys. (2013) 61: 24313
https://doi.org/10.1051/epjap/2012120442

Measurement of secondary ionization coefficient of CaO film electrode ^*

¹ Department of Electrical, Electronic and Computer Engineering, Chiba Institute of Technology, Narashino, Chiba 275-0016, Japan
² Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Kisarazu National College of Technology, Kiyomidaihigashi, Kisarazu, Chiba 292-0041, Japan

^a e-mail: susumu.suzuki@it-chiba.ac.jp

Received: 3 October 2012
Revised: 4 December 2012
Accepted: 5 December 2012
Published online: 15 February 2013

Abstract

The secondary ionization coefficient γ of a CaO film electrode is investigated taking into account the difference in breakdown voltage obtained by repeated voltage applications. Such measurement is performed under a sinusoidal voltage of 0.5 Hz. If the CaO film electrode acts as the cathode, breakdown voltage gradually decreases and converges to an almost constant value after several breakdowns. From the obtained results, the γ of the CaO film electrode is determined for each breakdown using Townsend’s criterion. The γ in the first breakdown is lower than those in subsequent breakdowns, particularly in the steady state. The difference in γ is considered to originate from accumulated charges on the CaO film electrode.