The Measurements of Vacuum arc Behaviour at Threshold Current

Abstract

The measurements of vacuum arc current parameters at the threshold current were made. The threshold currents for Cu, W, graphite cathodes were measured. It was shown that the current that vacuum arc chops with, has a statistical distribution. The vacuum arc current chopping is accompanied with significant ion current burst. The ion current of W and Cu cathodes contains intensive peaks with 30-50 ns duration. It was shown that the cathode materials that have intense peaks have a significant threshold current. © 2021 Institute of Physics Publishing. All rights reserved.