Dynamics of prebreakdown phenomena in a uniform field in water

For a breakdown time lag of 10/sup -7/ to 10/sup -3/, both slow subsonic and thin supersonic streamers were found to emanate from a point electrode in deionized water (/spl sigma/=5/spl times/10/sup -5/ S/m). The slow streamer-formed dendrite probably consists of gaseous microbubbles. Relaxation of the slow streamers was studied. The development of fast streamers resulted from kinetic phase transition in the liquid, with subsequent ionization of thin discharge channels. It was shown that heating of water and electrohydrodynamic flow do not affect the prebreakdown phenomena under these conditions. A model has been proposed of an anodic supersonic streamer which is generated by the plasma in the condensed medium. >