Super high-speed anode pre-breakdown phenomena in liquid dielectrics under uniform fields

The author presents the results of an investigation of the development of electric discharge from the anode in various liquid dielectrics in a quasi-uniform field using superfast optical methods. The existence of two different mechanisms of breakdown was established. One of them is complicated and involves several consecutive stages differing in the structure and speed of evolution. It contains elements of both the bubble and ionization mechanism of breakdown. Another mechanism of breakdown from the anode is simpler and is connected with the development of elementary processes in the liquid itself.