Importance of the dependence of the secondary electron emission coefficient on E/p0 for Paschen breakdown curves in ac plasma panels

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Abstract
Apparent deviations from Paschen’s law, observed in ac plasma panels, have been resolved by generalizing the breakdown criterion to include the dependence of the secondary electron emission coefficient on E/p0. Incorporation of this dependence into the proposed effective coefficient involves consideration of both the back-diffusion phenomenon and the influence of E/p0 on the efficiency of metastable atom generation. Calculated voltage breakdown curves in pure neon and neon plus 0.1% argon mixture are in good agreement with experimental data for both the metal electrode dc discharges and the insulator-covered electrode discharges found in ac plasma panels.