Electrodeless breakdown in elliptically polarized fields at 60 Hz

Abstract

Theoretical and experimental results are presented on the frequency of electrodeless breakdown (fB) of a gas in a spherical glass bulb immersed in an elliptically polarized field of maximum field strength [Formula: see text] and frequency fA (~60 Hz). It is found that the breakdown threshold is independent of the ellipticity and that graphs fB versus [Formula: see text] are stepped at low fields and linear at high ones. At high fields, fB = fAl/e0 where l is the circumference of the phasor and e0 is the breakdown strength of the gas ([Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text] respectively for circular and linear polarization). The implications of the results for measuring environmental fields are given.