The transition of an electron avalanche into streamers directed both to the anode and to the cathode was observed in nitrogen (low amounts of methan added). The light intensity emitted by the streamers was photographed by means of a camera and simultaneously registered by photomultiplier technique. By comparison of photographs and oscillograms the streamer velocities could be determined to be vAK=1·108 cm/sec and vKK=3,1·108 cm/sec for the anode-directed streamer and the cathode-directed streamer respectively. Further it was found that the development of the anode directed streamer already begins in the state of reduced carrier amplification owing to the space charge of the avalanche itself.
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