Negative corona in silane-argon-hydrogen mixtures at low pressures

Current pulses have been measured in negative corona discharges in argon-hydrogen and silane-argon-hydrogen mixtures near the Paschen minimum. It was found that the current pulses appear only on the right branch of the Paschen curve and have shapes similar to those of subnormal oscillations in dc discharges between parallel-plane electrodes. The effects of gas temperature and negative ions on the current pulse shape and size are examined. It appears that a small admixture of silane into an argon-hydrogen discharge results in a more pronounced ion-ion phase and doubles the pulse repetition frequency, while an increase in gas temperature acts in exactly the opposite way. The implications of these results on theories of current pulse formation are discussed.