Electrical and optical characteristics of nanosecond discharge confined between dielectric walls in a diode with a slit cathode

The electrical and optical characteristics of a transverse nanosecond pulsed electric discharge confined between dielectric walls in a helium-filled diode with a hollow (slit) cathode has been experimentally studied in the range of gas pressures of 1–100 Torr. It is shown that the cathode current density in the anomalous glow discharge regime is several orders of magnitude greater than the anode current density. A relationship is established between the characteristic radiation relaxation time and the fast diffusion cooling of electron gas after the jump in the near-wall potential.