Dynamics of a wire-to-cylinder atmospheric pressure high-voltage nanosecond discharge

The dynamics of a wire-to-cylinder atmospheric pressure high-voltage nanosecond discharge is studied by the one-dimensional Particle-in-Cell Monte Carlo collisions model in cylindrical coordinates. The x-ray photons emitted from the anode are found to be inconsequential to the generation of dense plasma in the gap. Rather, the electron impact ionization resulting from acceleration of naturally occurring background electrons in the discharge gap are enough to explain the generation of high-density (∼10¹⁵cm⁻³) non-equilibrium plasma. The influence of the high-voltage rise time on the plasma parameters is discussed