Influence on discharge uniformity of electrodes configuration

Large area glow discharge plasma that is transparent and highly conductive can be used as electrodes in Pockels cell to extend the switch aperture. To investigate this technology, a glow discharging chamber with a clear aperture of 5cm×5cm was constructed, and hollow cathode, button cathode, pin cathode, bar cathode and bar anode were designed and produced. Using CCD imaging system, the discharging uniformity of different cathodes was tested with bar anode and under the different pressure pre-ionization voltage and main discharging voltage. A uniform plasma can be obtained with a hollow cathode when the pre-ionization voltage is about 700V, the pressure is about 30Pa, and the main discharging voltage is about 4kV, which can be used for the plasma electrode of Pockels cell.