Paschen Avalanche Minimum
Find the minimum of an ideal gas-breakdown curve while preserving its inadmissible branch.
Free theory articleFind the minimum of an ideal gas-breakdown curve while preserving its inadmissible branch.
Concept & interpretation
The Townsend/Paschen law describes the breakdown voltage of a gas between parallel electrodes. By defining reduced units, the relationship illustrates the classical gas-breakdown behavior where a minimum voltage exists to trigger an avalanche.
Interactive Experiment
Explore the Paschen curve minimum in the interactive module at https://riano.app/module/paschen-avalanche-minimum.
- Select the Secondary yield from the available values. Observe how the minimum point shifts.
- Adjust the Reduced pd value. Note how it calculates the voltage and slope when in the finite domain.
- Set Reduced pd to "Threshold" to observe the divergent boundary behavior.
- Set Reduced pd below the threshold to see that the model status indicates it is outside the positive-voltage domain.