ABSTRACT
This chapter presents the results of studies of the plasma of a single diffuse channel in SF6 and SF6-based mixtures with hydrocarbons. The discharge chamber is a section of a cylindrical pipe 80 cm long, closed at both ends with transparent plexiglass flanges. The electrode system is mounted inside the discharge chamber near one of the flanges, which allowed visual inspection of the discharge uniformity. Thus, the addition of C2H6 to SF6 equally increases the stability of the self-initiated volume dischage (SIVD) both in the system of flat electrodes, where the density of the cathode spots increases significantly in the mixture of SF6 and C2H6, and in the electrode– rod–plane system, where the SIVD develops from one cathode spot. The detected effect is clarified by a photo of a cathode plume, i.e. bright plasma channel growing directly from the cathode.
