Threshold for a cumulative resonant microwave streamer discharge in a high-pressure gas

Results are reported from experiments aimed at investigating how the structure of a microwave streamer discharge depends on the gas pressure. The formation of a bright core in the streamer channel is shown to be of a threshold nature: in discharges initiated in the field of a standing electromagnetic wave of an open two-mirror cavity, a bright core forms in air and hydrogen in the pressure ranges p ₀≥540±50 torr and p ₀≥740±70 torr, respectively. Estimates are presented, according to which the appearance of a bright core can be attributed to the onset of a local microwave pinch effect.