Vacuum arc on a heated chromium cathode: Cathode spot dynamics and conditions for diffuse mode
Diffuse vacuum arc application requires the cathode conditions for stable operation in the diffuse mode to be determined. In this work, such conditions are established for a heated chromium cathode. At a discharge current of 30–40 A, the diffuse mode is sustained within a limited range of cathode temperatures of 1.8–2.0 kK. Outside this range, the discharge becomes non-stationary. Statistical analysis of cathode spot motion in these non-stationary modes reveals random displacements in the presence of an axial magnetic field of 10 mT. The diffusion coefficient of cathode spot motion is determined to be 0.7–3.3 cm2/s, which is consistent with values reported for vacuum arcs on cold cathodes.
Authors
- R. A. Timirkhanov (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9669-374X)
- Vladimir P. Polistchook
- Anton D. Melnikov (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3355-1058)
- Andrey V. Gavrikov (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6439-7332)
- Ravil A. Usmanov (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4876-2376)
- A. I. Belostotskii (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0006-2925-4567)
- M. S. Paramonov (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0000-3731-0174)
Institutions
- Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology (RU)
- Joint Institute for High Temperatures (RU)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Journal of Applied Physics
- Published
- 2026-11-10
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0351201
- Primary Topic
- Vacuum and Plasma Arcs
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00