Prebreakdown current pulses at streamer inception in cyclohexane

In this paper, the relation between the prebreakdown current pulses and the initiation of the density change streamer in cyclohexane under negative impulse voltage condition was investigated. The current pulses and the streamers were observed simultaneously using the reference electrode method and a high-speed optical system, respectively. The time difference between the onset of the first prebreakdown current pulse and the initiation of the negative streamer was obtained to be approximately 78 ns. The initiation electric field of the negative streamer is calculated to be 27.9 MV/cm/spl sim/35.3 MV/cm.