Dispersion of breakdown voltage of liquid helium

As for the electrical insulation characteristics of liquid helium, the discrepancy among the measured values by each person is very large even in the fundamental DC breakdown voltage in uniform electric field. The dispersion of experimental values obtained in the experiments by the same person is also large. Hereafter, the difference among the mean values obtained by each experimenter will be referred to as ''deviation of mean values'', and the dispersion of measured values around the mean value obtained by the same person as ''deviation around the man value''. The authors have mainly investigated on the latter experimentally. The cryostat was made of stainless steel, and the innermost helium chamber was of 500 mm I.D. and approximately 1200 mm deep. The high voltage electrode was of brass sphere of 25 mm diameter, and the low voltage electrode was of brass plate. The experiment was conducted for liquid helium boiling at 4.2 K and 1 atm, and the breakdown voltage and time lag were measured by applying the approximately square wave impulses of fast rise and long tail, ramp and DC voltages. The cause of the deviation of mean values may be the presence of impurity particles or the effect of electrode shape. As for the deviation around the mean value, the dispersion is large, and its standard deviation may amount to 10 to 20% of the man value. The dispersion is not due to the statistical time lag, but is due to parameters that vary with breakdown. (Wakatsuki, Y.)