electrical breakdown
when current flows through an electrical insulator when the voltage applied across it exceeds the breakdown voltage
lightning
weather phenomenon involving electrostatic discharge
electrostatic discharge
sudden flow of electricity between two electrically charged objects caused by contact, an electrical short, or dielectric breakdown
brush discharge
electrical disruptive discharge similar to a corona discharge that takes place at an electrode with a high voltage applied to it, embedded in a nonconducting fluid, usually air
electron avalanche
process in which a number of free electrons in a transmission medium are subjected to strong acceleration by an electric field and subsequently collide with other atoms of the medium, thereby ionizing them (impact ionization)
electric glow discharge
plasma formed by the passage of electric current through a gas