A pulsed electrical breakdown in n-hexane under uniform field

A pulsed electrical breakdown in n-hexane under quasi-uniform field with E~0.9-2.1 MV/cm has been studied using high-speed laser schlieren recording, statistical analysis, and the effect of external pressure. Three mechanisms of this breakdown differing in their structures are shown to exist. One corresponds to the electric discharge from a cathode and the two others are due to that from an anode. The pressure effect on the breakdown mechanism is radically different. The analysis of experimental data shows that the occurrence of a certain critical time period and a certain critical interelectrode distance is due to the transition from the cathode breakdown mechanism (bubble mechanism) to the anode discharge involving elements of both bubble and ionization breakdown mechanisms. In the nanosecond range at increased pressures, the ionization mechanism of anode breakdown predominates