Influence of preionization on the microchannel structure of a spark discharge in air in a pin-plane gap

The initial phase of a spark discharge in the gap between the pin (cathode) and a plane 1.5 mm long in atmospheric pressure air under conditions of preliminary photoionization by an auxiliary discharge was investigated by the method of shadow photography. In the absence of preionization, the discharge from the first nanoseconds after breakdown is an aggregate of a large number of micron-diameter channels. It was found that the electron concentration resulting from preionization, estimated at 10$^8$–10$^9$ cm$^{-3}$, increases the degree of uniformity of the discharge channel in the near-cathode region; however, in the near-anode region, the channel remains microstructured. Within the framework of the mechanism of microstructure formation due to the instability of the ionization wave front, a criterion for the formation of a uniform discharge is obtained and an explanation of the results obtained is presented.