The influence of initial conditions on specific features of the formation and development of a cathode-directed ionization wave between two flat electrodes in argon at atmospheric pressure was studied at nanosecond time resolution using a high-speed photoelectron monitor and numerical simulations based on the two-dimensional axisymmetric diffusion–drift model.

The emission spectrum of a near-cathode plasma of a pulsed discharge in atmospheric pressure helium reveals spectral lines of electrode material. Numerical simulation of the kinetics by the Monte Carlo method shows that starting with a fraction of percent, the addition of iron atoms to helium strongly affect the ionization-drift characteristics of electrons in gas.