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A Comprehensive Study Of Dielectric-Conductor Junctions In Low Density Plasmas, B. V. Vayner, J. T. Galofaro, D. C. Ferguson, W. A. De Groot, C. D. Thomson, John R. Dennison, R. E. Davies

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In this paper, results are presented of an experimental and theoretical study of snapover, glow discharge, and arc phenomena for different materials immersed in argon or xenon plasmas. The effect of snapover is investigated for several metal-dielectric junctions: copper-teflon, copper-Kapton, copper-glass, aluminum-teflon, aluminum-Kapton, steel-teflon, anodized aluminum with pinholes, and copper-ceramics. I-V curves are measured, and snapover inception voltages, essential parameters (increase in current and collection area due to secondary electrons), and glow discharge inception thresholds are determined. Optical spectra are obtained for glow discharges in both argon and xenon plasmas. These spectra provide information regarding atomic species entrapped in the …