Structured MgO film coated electrodes for glow discharge sustainment

• Structured MgO coated electrodes reduced the glow discharge inception voltage.
• Structured MgO surface have a desert-rose-like structured surface.
• Use of these electrodes also brought the sustainable glow discharge at high pressure.

In this study, structured MgO films were synthesized on stainless steel electrodes to reduce the glow discharge inception voltage in a diode-type discharge system in 6%Xe + 94%Ne atmosphere. The relationship between the MgO surface configuration and the discharge inception voltage was investigated. We prepared two types of MgO film, namely, those with a flat surface and those with a structured surface. The structured surface appeared to have a desert-rose-like structure. The discharge inception voltage varied with the surface configuration of the MgO film. The inception voltages in the structured MgO-coated electrodes were lower than those in the MgO films with a flat surface at a pressure of 0.4–10 kPa. One of the causes of the reduction in inception voltage in a structured MgO-coated electrode is considered to be the field enhancement effect at the tip of the MgO-coated electrode.