Surface charge decay under the influence of prior applied voltage in freon

The application of high voltage to an insulating spacer causes a generation of charges within and on the insulator. These charges distort the electric field and may result in a significant modification of the withstand voltage. The decay of the charge density subsequent to removal of the applied voltage is reported. At a fixed pressure the rate of charge decay increased with increasing pre-applied voltage. At a fixed pre-applied voltage, the rate of charge decay increased with increasing gas pressure.