Gaseous breakdown at high frequencies under partial vacuum

High voltage devices and systems operating in space environment are usually subjected to partial discharges or corona discharges due to the partial vacuum environment, and these activities within a power system are usually considered as major design problems. Currently, space power systems operating, at voltages higher than the traditional 28 V systems are being considered. Furthermore, the availability of high power electronic devices operating at higher switching frequencies makes the corona and partial discharge problems more important than before. Our initial studies conducted in the laboratory suggest that the corona inception voltage levels at high frequency are indeed lower than the dc breakdown voltages for various pressures. Thus, this work will present the breakdown data obtained for ac-voltages at 10 kHz to 30 kHz in partial vacuum environment. Furthermore, results will be compared with the data available in the literature, and further research work in high frequency breakdown in partial pressure environment will be discussed.