Origin of surface microwave discharges

The high-pressure gas discharge initiated at the focus of pulsed powerful microwave radiation is a branched network of thin plasma channels completely filling the volume of the focal zone. A detailed experimental investigation of such discharges is carried out with a setup operating at a wavelength of 8.9 cm and at pressures ranging from 0.05 to 1.00 atm. When the initiator is placed on a dielectric plate, the discharge channels are found to propagate solely over the surface of the dielectric. It is shown that electrodynamic interaction between the gas discharge and dielectric is the main reason for the surface propagation of the discharge.