The study put forth demonstrates that the seed electrons average kinetic energy influences the discharge characteristics making it possible to maximize the rate of development of the virtual anode in a pseudospark, with a suitable choice of the neutral gas pressure as determined by the seed's average injection speed. This investigation also brings to light two distinct operating regimes; (1) mid-energy, where electron-impact ionization energy losses result in a decrease in the cross-section as the electrons travel downstream and (2) high-energy, where, in contrast, the ionization cross-section increases. In the latter case, both the fastest delay time and the neutral gas pressure producing this value have linear dependencies on the seed electrons energy resulting in a constant value of their product over the different injection speeds. The discharge is seeded by injecting a current pulse for a period of one nanosecond along the axis from the hollow cathode cavity back wall over a range of mean speeds corresponding to 100 to 900 V accelerations; the initial electric field is insufficient to enhance ionization throughout most of the hollow cathode backspace. Data is obtained through computer simulation using the two-dimensional kinetic plasma code OOPIC Pro. 51.50.+v, 52.75.Kq, 52.80.Tn.
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