2026-10-04 PubMed Central (pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov) - Zhang et al. 2017

URL [web]: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC5579005/ Yu Zhang, Qing Xia, Zhaorui Jiang, Jiting Ouyang (School of Physics, Beijing Institute of Technology), "Trichel pulse in various gases and the key factor for its formation", Sci. Rep. 7:10135 (31 Aug 2017), doi:10.1038/s41598-017-10118-2. Open access. Method (experimental): needle cathode, tip radius 50-250 um; plate anode; gap 1-20 mm; 1 MOhm ballast resistor and 2 kOhm sampling resistor; oscilloscope recording. Abstract claims [web]: - Trichel pulses are "a common phenomenon that can occur in various gases rather than only in electronegative gases". - The pulse is a mode transition between a low-current Townsend regime and a high-current normal glow regime. - The interval is set by the re-building of the positive-ion cloud that enhances the local field. - "The positive ions play a predominant role ... while the negative ions in electronegative gas are not necessary even if they affect greatly the pulsing process." Introduction: the authors say the negative-ion forming-and-clearing picture is "widely accepted" but that simulated waveforms often do not match measured ones. Bearing: this is a direct counter-position on claim 1 (only in electronegative gases) and claim 2 (the negative-ion clearing time sets the period). It is a mainstream peer-reviewed experimental paper that disputes the standard (Trichel/Loeb/Morrow) mechanism. It is reported as these authors' finding, not as settled. Which gases were tested was not extracted (output blocked); read the full text next run. Recheck: yes.