High-power subnanosecond beams of runaway electrons and volume discharge formation in gases at atmospheric pressure

A non-local criterion for runaway electrons generation is proposed, which is a universal two-valued dependence of the critical voltage U-cr on pd for a certain gas (where p is the pressure and d is the interelectrode distance). This dependence subdivides the (U, pd) plane into an area of efficient electron multiplication and an area in which electrons leave the gas gap without multiplication. Electron beams of subnanosecond pulse duration and an amplitude of hundreds of amperes are generated at atmospheric pressure in various gases. A volume nanosecond discharge with a high specific excitation power was realized without the pre-ionization of the discharge gap by using an additional external source. The role of the electron avalanches propagating from the cathode to the anode in a dense gas was considered.