Electron drift velocity in N2O in strong electric fields determined from rf breakdown curves

Abstract

We report measurements of the breakdown curves of an rf capacitive discharge in low pressure nitrous oxide. The electron drift velocity was determined from the locations of the turning point and of the minimum in the breakdown curves in the range E/p = 87–840 Vcm−1 Torr−1. We compare our results with values calculated from the published cross-sections in the range E/p = 1–5000 Vcm−1 Torr−1 and find good agreement.