Evidence of electric breakdown induced by bubbles in liquid argon

2014/01/13 by F. Bay, Bay, F., C. Cantini +12
Engineering · Physics and Astronomy · #Electrohydrodynamics and Fluid Dynamics #FOS: Physical sciences #Instrumentation and Detectors (physics.ins-det) #Power Transformer Diagnostics and Insulation #physics.ins-det

paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.1401.2777

7 pages, 3 figures, based on a talk given at the High Voltage in Noble Liquids (HVNL13) Workshop, FNAL, 8-9 November 2013

arxiv created 2014/01/13 · openalex publication_date 2014/01/13 · arxiv updated 2014/01/14 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28

Abstract

We report on the results of a high voltage test in liquid argon in order to measure its dielectric rigidity. Under stable conditions and below the boiling point, liquid argon was found to sustain a uniform electric field of 100 kV/cm, applied in a region of 20 cm² area across 1 cm thick gap. When the liquid is boiling, breakdowns may occur at electric fields as low as 40 kV/cm. This test is one of the R&D efforts towards the Giant Liquid Argon Charge Imaging ExpeRiment (GLACIER) as proposed Liquid Argon Time Projection Chamber (LAr TPC) for the LBNO observatory for neutrino physics, astrophysics and nucleon decay searches.

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