Townsend discharge

English

Etymology

Named after John Sealy Townsend, who discovered the fundamental mechanism.

Noun

Townsend discharge (plural Townsend discharges)

  1. A gas ionization process where free electrons, accelerated by a sufficiently strong electric field, give rise to electrical conduction through a gas by avalanche multiplication caused by the ionization of molecules by ion impact.

Synonyms
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