Abstract
Insulator samples of Plexiglas and alumina ceramic in vacuum have been subjected to high‐voltage pulses with rise times of a few nanoseconds. Breakdown paths were inclined to the electric field in the presence of a magnetic field normal to the insulator surface, analogous to the Hall effect for bulk conduction. These results, as well as measurements of the flashover propagation velocity, strongly support a model of the flashover mechanism based on secondary electron emission.

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