Townsend discharge
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English[edit]
Etymology[edit]
Named after John Sealy Townsend, who discovered the fundamental mechanism.
Noun[edit]
Townsend discharge (plural Townsend discharges)
- 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.