NEW THEORETICAL EXPLANATION OF THE HIGH FIELD CONDUCTIVITY BEHAVIOUR OF IRRADIATED NON-POLAR LIQUIDS.

The qualitative behavior of the current density vs. electric field strength characteristic in a dielectric liquid is well known, but the absence of the current saturation phenomenon that occurs in gases is not understood. In particular, the generally accepted concept of columnar generation of ions fails to provide an explanation. The authors present a theory based on recombination concepts, in which free electrons, as well as positive and negative ions, contribute to the current density. Some preliminary results are given showing that the theory can reproduce the linear portion of the current-density curve obtained from measurements of typical nonpolar liquids.