Features of Streamer Discharge in Geiger-Muller Counters

The paper considers one of the understudied aspects of the use of low-voltage halogen counters of the Geiger-Muller, associated with the choice of the operating point voltage in the middle of the plateau of the counting characteristics. It is shown that the difficulties can be caused in determining of the beginning of counting characteristics by the appearance of streamer discharge pulses in a zone of limited proportionality to the transition to a stable corona discharge. The use of the Raether criterion to estimate the necessary and sufficient conditions for the appearance of a streamer makes it possible to introduce some clarity into the essence of this phenomenon.