APL Nameplate
  • Volume/Page
  • Keyword
  • DOI
  • Citation
  • Advanced
   
 
 
 

Flickr Twitter UniPHY Group iResearch App Facebook

Applied Physics Letters / Volume 84 / Issue 8 / PLASMAS AND ELECTRICAL DISCHARGES

Appl. Phys. Lett. 84, 1269 (2004); http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.1647272 (3 pages)

Mechanism for small electron current fraction in a vacuum arc cathode spot on a refractory cathode

I. I. Beilis

Electrical Discharge and Plasma Laboratory, Department of Interdisciplinary Studies, Fleischman Faculty of Engineering, Tel Aviv University, P.O.Box 39040, Tel Aviv 69978, Israel

(Received 7 October 2003; accepted 17 December 2003)

A mechanism for refractory cathode spot operation in a vacuum arc is proposed, based on the presence of a finite electric field Ep at the cathode sheath–plasma interface. The proposed model determines the relationship between the electron current and the total spot current density j and includes a system of equations solved for cathode plasma containing a mixture of ion states. The calculation shows that Ep reaches a value, ∼ 106 V/cm, and j is 104–108 A/cm2, when the electron current fraction s increases from 0.5 to 0.9. It is discovered that for a refractory cathode, ions with high ionicity (from 2 to 4) can be generated in the spot region for a relatively small s, 0.7–0.9, in contrast to ionization in the plasma jet, as predicted previously for copper cathodes. © 2004 American Institute of Physics.

© 2004 American Institute of Physics

RELATED DATABASES

To view database links for this article, you need to log in.

KEYWORDS and PACS

Keywords

vacuum arcs, cathodes, refractories, plasma jets, current density, ionisation

PACS

ARTICLE DATA

Digital Object Identifier
http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.1647272

PUBLICATION DATA

ISSN

0003-6951 (print)  
1077-3118 (online)

Publisher

$abstract.society.value is a Member of CrossRef American Institute of Physics

For access to fully linked references, you need to log in.
    I. Langmuir, Phys. Rev. 33, 954 (1929).

    I. I. Beilis and M. Keidar, Phys. Plasmas 5, 1545 (1998)PHPAEN000005000005001545000001.


For access to citing articles, you need to log in.



Close

Google Calendar

ADVERTISEMENT

Your Recent History Recent History Help

Recently Viewed

  1. Mechanism for small electron current fraction in a vacuum arc cathode spot on a refractory cathode
  2. Terahertz quantum-cascade lasers based on an interlaced photon-phonon cascade
  3. Writing polarization bits on the multiferroic BiMnO3 thin film using Kelvin probe force microscope
  4. Silicon nanowhiskers grown on 〈111〉Si substrates by molecular-beam epitaxy
  5. Observation of resonant energy transfer in Au:CdS nanocomposite
Go to AIP Home
Copyright © American Institute of Physics
close