Growth of ionization currents in nitrogen

Townsend's primary and secondary ionization coefficients α/ p and γ were determined in nitrogen over a wide range of E/p (100-1000 V cm −1 Torr −1 ) and p (0·4 to 12 Torr at 0 °C) using the pressure variation technique. This technique, along with the Gosseries method of evaluation of ionization coefficients, seems to be more suitable at higher values of E/p , since the errors in these coefficients could be minimized by a suitable selection of p and d , thus eliminating the non-equilibrium ionization condition.