The results of an investigation of a self-sustained subnanosecond discharge in nitrogen at a pressure of 6 atm are presented. A high voltage pulse with a front of approximately 770 ps at the level of 0.1-0.9 in amplitude was applied to the studied gas gap. In this case, the voltage rise rate in the discharge gap at the prebreakdown stage was 1.45 × 10 14 V s −1 . A breakdown occurs at the end of the front of the voltage pulse. The cathode geometry used provided a 3.3-fold enhancement of an electric field in the near-cathode spatial domain. It is shown that at the initial stage the discharge is of a volumetric form which turns into a spark form further. The discharge contraction starts from a cathode and an anode almost simultaneously. The propagation rate of ionization waves accompanying the spark channel development is 4.2 × 10 8 cm s −1 . The initial volumetric form of the discharge is provided by preliminary ionization of a gas medium by runaway electrons. The generation of runaway electrons takes place in the enhanced electric field area formed near a microprotrusion on the cathode surface, while the macro-geometry of the discharge gap does not ensure enhancing of the electric field up to the value which is sufficient to the implementation of the runaway electron generation criterion. Numerical simulation of a formation process of the electron avalanche initiated by an electron field-emitted from the top of the cathode microprotrusion was carried out taking into account the motion of each electron in the avalanche. To simulate electron motion through the discharge gap, the 3D Monte-Carlo technique was employed. The following runaway electron parameters were calculated: characteristic runaway electron trajectories; runaway electron energy gained during the motion through the discharge gap; and times required for runaway electrons to reach the anode.

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