Breakdown voltages of cryogenic gaseous helium and in liquid helium

As practical applications of superconductivity have been made in electric power engineering, the breakdown voltage superconductor coolants, such as liquid helium or supercritical helium, have been needed intensively. Furthermore, in our discharge experiment in liquid helium to search for a novel carbon nanotube structure, it was predicted that the breakdown voltage was much higher. So, using the metal spherical electrodes, d.c. breakdown voltages in 4.2K gaseous helium (just above the liquid helium) and in liquid helium have been measured. As a result of the experiment, it was observed that the value is several times larger. Moreover, it found that there was no difference in the discharge phenomenon before and after the superfluid transition temperature.