Effect of temperature on the uniform field breakdown strength of electronegative gases

Abstract

In general, the electron attachment rate constant ka (〈ε〉, T), as a function of the mean electron energy 〈ε〉 and temperature T for electronegative gases which attach electrons nondissociative ily, decreases greatly with T from room temperature to T≲600 K, while the ka (〈ε〉, T) of electronegative gases which attach electrons dissociatively increases with increasing T. Based on recent studies at our laboratory on ka (〈ε〉, T), we investigated the variation with T (∼295–575 K) of the uniform field breakdown strength, (E/N)lim, for three classes of electronegative gases: (a) gases such as c-C4F8 (and c-C4F6, 1−C3F6) which attach strongly low-energy (≲1 eV) electrons nondissociatively and for which ka (〈ε〉, T) decreases precipitously with T above ambient: (b) gases such as C2F6 and CF3Cl which attach electrons exclusively dissociatively and whose ka (〈ε〉, T) increases with T; and (c) gases such as C3F8 and n-C4F10 which attach electrons both nondissociatively and dissociatively over a common low-energy range and whose ka (〈ε〉, T) first decreases and then increases with T above ambient. The (E/N)lim(T) has been found to decrease significantly with T for (a), to decrease slowly with T for (c), and to increase slightly with T for (b). These changes in (E/N)lim follow those in ka (〈ε〉, T). A similar behavior is expected for other electronegative gaseous dielectrics in the respective three groups.