Simulation of positive streamers in CO₂ and in air: the role of photoionization or other electron sources

Positive streamer discharges have been studied and modelled extensively in air. Here we study positive streamers in CO₂ with and without oxygen admixtures; they are relevant for current high voltage technology as well as for discharges in the atmosphere of Venus. We discuss that no efficient photoionization mechanism is known for gases with a large CO₂ fraction, as photons in the relevant energy range are rapidly absorbed. Hence positive streamers can propagate only due to some other source of free electrons ahead of the ionization front. Therefore we study positive streamer propagation in CO₂ with different levels of background ionization to provide these free electrons. The effect of replacing photoionization by background ionization is studied with simulations in air. Simulating streamers in background fields of 16 to 20 kV cm⁻¹ at standard temperature and pressure within a gap of 6.4 cm, we find that streamer propagation is rather insensitive to the level of photoionization or background ionization. We also discuss that the results depend not only on the value of breakdown field and applied electric field, and on preionization or photoionization, but also on the electron mobility μ(E) and the effective ionization coefficient α _eff(E), that are gas-dependent functions of the electron energy or the electric field. (paper)