An investigation of surface flashover across polymer and ceramic substrates

It is possible to utilise a surface discharge as a source of high intensity pulsed light. Such sources find practical applications as wideband optical sources, as sources of high intensity UV light and as a means of pumping organic dye lasers. Previous investigations have shown that the surface discharge emission spectrum is strongly dependent upon the nature of the dielectric as well as on the type and pressure of the associated cover gas. Work is presented concerning surface discharges produced using a novel, self-matched, pulse generator. This generator enabled quantitative measurements of the electrical properties of the discharge to be made under controlled conditions. The optical characteristics of the discharge were also determined for dielectric materials covering a range of values of dielectric constant. The effects of the substrate material on such discharge properties as the spectral emission, the luminous intensity, and the discharge morphology were determined and are discussed