Study on the discharge mechanism and EM radiation characteristics of Trichel pulse discharge in air

The Trichel pulse stage is an unstable stage of negative corona discharge that can also involve electromagnetic (EM) radiation signals. In this paper, the discharge mechanism and radiation characteristics of the Trichel pulse are studied in the needle-plate electrode configuration. The Trichel pulse current and its EM radiation signals are measured at different applied voltages. The results show that Trichel pulse discharge changes from the random pulse stage to the continuous pulse stage as the applied voltage increases. During these different stages, the normalized shape of the Trichel pulses remains unchanged, while the frequency of the EM radiation generated by the discharge remains unchanged. The discharge mechanism and EM radiation characteristics of the Trichel pulse are theoretically analyzed in the different stages. Both the positive ion sheath and the negative ion cloud play key roles in the formation of the Trichel pulse. The EM radiation signal is generated by the rapidly changing Trichel pulse current, and the Trichel pulse current waveform determines the characteristics of the EM radiation signal.