Townsend discharge

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Townsend discharge
The Townsend discharge is a gas ionization process where free electrons, accelerated by a sufficiently strong
electric field, give rise to electrical conduction through a gas by avalanche multiplication caused by the ionization of
molecules by ion impact. When the number of free charges drops or the electric field weakens, the phenomenon
ceases.
The Townsend discharge is named after John Sealy Townsend, who discovered the fundamental ionization
mechanism by his work between 1897 and 1901. It is also known as a Townsend avalanche.
General description of the phenomenon
Avalanche effect between two electrodes. The original ionisation event liberates one
electron, and each subsequent collision liberates a further electron, so two electrons
emerge from each collision: the ionising electron and the liberated electron.
The avalanche is a cascade reaction
involving electrons in a region with a
sufficiently high electric field in a
gaseous medium that can be ionized,
such as air. Following an original
ionisation event, due to such as
ionising radiation, the positive ion
drifts towards the cathode, while the
free electron drifts towards the anode
of the device. If the electric field is
strong enough, the free electron gains
sufficient energy to liberate a further
electron when it next collides with
another molecule. The two free
electrons then travel towards the anode
and gain sufficient energy from the
electric field to cause impact ionisation
when the next collisions occur; and so
on. This is effectively a chain reaction of electron generation, and is dependent on the free electrons gaining
sufficient energy between collisions to sustain the avalanche. The total number of electrons reaching the anode is
equal to the number of collisions, plus the single initiating free electron. The limit to the multiplication in an electron
avalanche is known as the Raether limit.
The Townsend avalanche can have a large range of current densities. In common gas-filled tubes, such as those used
as gaseous ionization detectors, magnitudes of currents flowing during this process can range from about 10
18
amperes to about 10
5
amperes.Wikipedia:Citation needed
Quantitative description of the phenomenon
The basic setup of Townsend's early experiments investigating ionization discharges in gases consisted of planar
parallel plates forming two sides of a chamber filled with a gas. A direct current high voltage source was connected
between the plates, the lower voltage plate being the cathode while the other was the anode. Forcing the cathode to
emit electrons using the photoelectric effect, by irradiating it for example with an X-ray source, Townsend found that
the current flowing through the chamber depends on the electric field between the plates in such a way that gas
ions seemed to multiply as they moved between them. He observed currents varying exponentially over ten or more
orders of magnitude with a constant applied voltage when the distance between the plates was varied. He also
Townsend discharge
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discovered the importance of the pressure of the gaseous medium, and was able to generate ions in gases at low
pressure with a much lower voltage than that required to generate a spark. This overturned conventional thinking
about the amount of current that an irradiated gas could conduct.
[1]
The experimental data obtained from his experiments are described by the following formula
where
is the current flowing in the device,
is the photoelectric current generated at the cathode surface,
is Euler's number
is the first Townsend ionization coefficient, expressing the number of ion pairs generated per unit length (e.g.
meter) by a negative ion (anion) moving from cathode to anode,
is the distance between the plates of the device.
The almost constant voltage between the plates is equal to the breakdown voltage needed to create a self-sustaining
avalanche: it decreases when the current reaches the glow discharge regime. Subsequent experiments revealed that
the current rises faster than predicted by the above formula as the distance increases: two different effects were
considered in order to explain the physics of the phenomenon and to be able to do a precise quantitative calculation.
Gas ionization caused by motion of positive ions
Townsend put forward the hypothesis that positive ions also produce ion pairs, introducing a coefficient
expressing the number of ion pairs generated per unit length by a positive ion (cation) moving from anode to
cathode. The following formula was found
since , in very good agreement with experiments.
The first Townsend coefficient ( ), also known as first Townsend avalanche coefficient is a term used where
secondary ionization occurs because the primary ionization electrons gain sufficient energy from the accelerating
electric field, or from the original ionizing particle. The coefficient gives the number of secondary electrons
produced by primary electron per unit path length.
Cathode emission caused by impact of ions
Townsend, Holst and Oosterhuis also put forward an alternative hypothesis, considering the augmented emission of
electrons by the cathode caused by impact of positive ions. This introduced Townsend's second ionization coefficient
; the average number of electrons released from a surface by an incident positive ion, according to the following
formula:
These two formulas may be thought as describing limiting cases of the effective behavior of the process: either can
be used to describe the same experimental results. Other formulas describing various intermediate behaviors are
found in the literature, particularly in reference 1 and citations therein.
Townsend discharge
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Conditions
Voltage-current characteristics of electrical discharge in neon at 1 torr, with two
planar electrodes separated by 50cm. A: random pulses by cosmic radiation B:
saturation current C: avalanche Townsend discharge D: self-sustained Townsend
discharge E: unstable region: corona discharge F: sub-normal glow discharge G:
normal glow discharge H: abnormal glow discharge I: unstable region: glow-arc
transition J: electric arc K: electric arcA-D region: dark discharge; ionization
occurs, current below 10 microamps.F-H region: glow discharge; the plasma
emits a faint glow. I-K region: arc discharge; larges amounts of radiation
produced.
A Townsend discharge can be sustained
only over a limited range of gas pressure
and electric field intensity. The
accompanying plot shows the variation of
voltage drop and the different operating
regions for a gas-filled tube with a constant
pressure, but a varying current between its
electrodes. The Townsend avalanche
phenomena occurs on the sloping plateau
B-D. Beyond D the ionisation is sustained.
At higher pressures, discharges occur more
rapidly than the calculated time for ions to
traverse the gap between electrodes, and the
streamer theory of spark discharge of
Raether, Meek and Loeb is applicable. In
highly non-uniform electric fields, the
corona discharge process is applicable. See
Electron avalanche for further description of
these mechanisms.
Discharges in vacuum require vaporization
and ionization of electrode atoms. An arc can be initiated without a preliminary Townsend discharge; for example
when electrodes touch and are then separated.
Applications
Gas-discharge tubes
The starting of Townsend discharge sets the upper limit to the blocking voltage a glow discharge gas-filled tube can
withstand this limit is the Townsend discharge breakdown voltage also called ignition voltage of the tube.
Neon lamp/cold-cathode gas diode relaxation oscillator
The occurrence of Townsend discharge,
leading to glow discharge breakdown shapes
the current-voltage characteristic of a gas
discharge tube such as a neon lamp in a way
such that it has a negative differential
resistance region of the S-type. The negative
resistance can be used to generate electrical
oscillations and waveforms, as in the
relaxation oscillator whose schematic is
shown in the picture on the right. The
sawtooth shaped oscillation generated has
frequency
where
Townsend discharge
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is the glow discharge breakdown voltage,
is the Townsend discharge breakdown voltage,
, and are respectively the capacitance, the resistance and the supply voltage of the circuit.
Since temperature and time stability of the characteristics of gas diodes and neon lamps is low, and also the
statistical dispersion of breakdown voltages is high, the above formula can only give a qualitative indication of
what the real frequency of oscillation is.
Gas phototubes
Avalanche multiplication during Townsend discharge is naturally used in gas phototubes, to amplify the
photoelectric charge generated by incident radiation (visible light or not) on the cathode: achievable current is
typically 10~20 times greater respect to that generated by vacuum phototubes.
Ionising radiation detectors
Plot of variation of ionisation current against applied voltage for a co-axial wire
cylinder gaseous radiation detector.
Townsend avalanche discharges are
fundamental to the operation of gaseous
ionization detectors such as the
GeigerMller tube and the proportional
counter in either detecting ionizing radiation
or measuring its energy. The incident
radiation will ionise atoms or molecules in
the gaseous medium to produce ion pairs,
but different use is made by each detector
type of the resultant avalanche effects.
In the case of a GM tube the high electric
field strength is sufficient to cause complete
ionisation of the fill gas surrounding the
anode from the initial creation of just one
ion pair. The GM tube output carries
information that the event has occurred, but
no information about the energy of the
incident radiation.
In the case of proportional counters, multiple creation of ion pairs occurs in the "ion drift" region near the cathode.
The electric field and chamber geometries are selected so that an "avalanche region" is created in the immediate
proximity of the anode. A negative ion drifting towards the anode enters this region and creates a localised avalanche
that is independent of those from other ion pairs, but which can still provide a multiplication effect. In this way
spectroscopic information on the energy of the incident radiation is available by the magnitude of the output pulse
from each initiating event.
[]
The accompanying plot shows the variation of ionisation current for a co-axial cylinder system. In the ion chamber
region, there are no avalanches and the applied voltage only serves to move the ions towards the electrodes to
prevent re-combination. In the proportional region, localised avalanches occur in the gas space immediately round
the anode which are numerically proportional to the number of original ionising events. Increasing the voltage
further increases the number of avalanches until the Geiger region is reached where the full volume of the fill gas
around the anodes ionised, and all proportional energy information is lost. Beyond the Geiger region the gas is in
continuous discharge owing to the high electric field strength.
Townsend discharge
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Notes
[1] John Sealy Edward Townsend. 1868-1957 by A. von Engel. Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society. 1957 3, 256-272
References
Little, P.F. (1956). "Secondary effects". In Flgge, Siegfried. Electron-emission Gas discharges I. Handbuch der
Physik (Encyclopedia of Physics) XXI. Berlin-Heidelberg-New York: Springer-Verlag. pp.574663..
James W Gewartowski and Hugh Alexander Watson (1965). Principles of Electron Tubes: Including
Grid-controlled Tubes, Microwave Tubes and Gas Tubes. D. Van Nostrand Co, Inc.
Herbert J. Reich (1939, 1944). Theory and applications of electron tubes. McGraw-Hill Co, Inc. Chapter 11
"Electrical conduction in gases" and chapter 12 "Glow- and Arc-discharge tubes and circuits".
E.Kuffel, W.S. Zaengl, J.Kuffel (2004). High Voltage Engineering Fundamentals, Second edition.
Butterworth-Heinemann. ISBN0-7506-3634-3.
External links
Simulation showing electron paths during avalanche (http:/ / plasma. szfki. kfki. hu/ ~zoli/ research/ avalanche/ )
Article Sources and Contributors
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Article Sources and Contributors
Townsend discharge Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=617624292 Contributors: A876, Arch dude, Atlant, CJLL Wright, Catslash, Chetvorno, Crystallina, DanMS,
Daniele.tampieri, Dougsim, Dthomsen8, Glrx, Herbmuell, Hooperbloob, Julesd, Leonard G., LouriePieterse, Magioladitis, Mahogny, MaoGo, Michael Hardy, Mogism, NawlinWiki, Plrk,
PulsatingPixel, Shaddack, Tam0031, Widr, Wikfr, Wtshymanski, 24 anonymous edits
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Image:Tube relaxation oscillator.jpg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Tube_relaxation_oscillator.jpg License: Public Domain Contributors: Daniele.tampieri
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