Investigation of the effect of additional electrons originating from the ultraviolet radiation on the nitrogen memory effect

Abstract

The influence of ultraviolet radiation on memory effect in nitrogen has been investigated. The spectrum of the radiation which passes through the walls of the experimental sample was obtained by the spectrometer. A detailed comparison of experimental results of electrical breakdown time delay as a function of afterglow period with and without ultraviolet irradiation was performed. These studies were done for such product of gas pressure and inter-electrode distance when both breakdown initiation mechanisms exist. The research has shown that ultraviolet radiation leads to the decrease in ion concentration in early nitrogen afterglow due to recombination of nitrogen ions with electrons released from the tube walls and electrodes. Meanwhile, it has been cofirmed that this radiation has a negligible influence on the breakdown initiation in late nitrogen afterglow when a significant nitogen atom concentration is persistent. When the concentration of nitrogen atoms decreases enough, the breakdown initiation is caused by cosmic rays but UV photons have an important influence because of the rise of the electron yield. [Projekat Ministarstva nauke Republike Srbije, br. 177007]

The evolution of breakdown voltage and delay time under high overvoltage for different types of surge arresters

“…This is something which indicates instability in the operation of the component with respect to the delay time. In the earlier results [22][23][24][25] of the memory effect study, it can be seen that in the region of increase for most experimental conditions ts is less than tf, as well as that the standard deviation of tf is very small, in the analysis of total delay time, in the first approximation we can assume that under constant experimental conditions, it is deterministic. In this case, the delay time becomes the sum of one deterministic tf and one stochastic quantity ts, so it takes on its stochastic character from the statistical delay time.…”

“…The first one is a tendency toward delay time decrease with increasing overvoltage for all GFSAs. It has been previously tested and confirmed for gas-filled tube that by increasing the voltage, the probability of a breakdown in the gas increases as well as the probability that the secondary electrons released from the cathode lead to a breakdown [22][23][24]. When the yield of electrons in a gap is a constant, the mean value of delay time is inversely proportional to the breakdown probability [22].…”

“…It has been previously tested and confirmed for gas-filled tube that by increasing the voltage, the probability of a breakdown in the gas increases as well as the probability that the secondary electrons released from the cathode lead to a breakdown [22][23][24]. When the yield of electrons in a gap is a constant, the mean value of delay time is inversely proportional to the breakdown probability [22]. It has also been shown that the breakdown probability increases with increasing overvoltage, which is manifested by a decrease in the mean value of delay time.…”