The electrical strength of an accelerating gap of a fore-vacuum plasma electron source is compared for different working gases: argon, nitrogen, oxygen, and helium. The curves of dependences of the limiting electron emission current, above which a breakdown occurs, on the voltage across the accelerating gap are presented. It is found out that the limiting emission currents are determined by the thickness of the emission electrode, the diameter of its holes, as well as the gas type and pressure. It is established that for all gases the limiting emission currents decrease with increasing pressure. When the limiting pressures are exceeded, there is a breakdown, and the pressure decreases in the following series: helium, oxygen, nitrogen, argon. For different experimental conditions, the dependence of the limiting emission current on the accelerating voltage can be either presented by a monotonically growing curve or the one containing an extremum.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
G. A. Mesyats and D. I. Proskurovskii, Pulsed Electric Discharge in Vacuum [in Russian], Nauka, Novosibirsk (1984).
W. T. Diamond, J. Vac. Sci. Technol. A, 16(2) 707 (1998).
J. M. Meek and J. D. Craggs, Electrical Breakdown of Gases, Clarendon Press, Oxford (1953).
Yu. D. Korolev and G. A. Mesyats, Physics of Pulsed Breakdown in Gases [in Russian], Nauka, Moscow (1991).
V. A. Burdovitsin, Yu. A. Burachevskii, A. V. Mytnikov, and E. M. Oks, Tech. Phys., 46, 179 (2001).
I. S. Zhirkov, V. A. Burdovitsin, and E. M. Oks, Tech. Phys., 512, 1217 (2007).
V. A. Burdovitsin, M. N. Kuzemchenko, and E. M. Oks, Tech. Phys., 47, No. 7, 926 (2002).
V. V. Karansky, A. S. Klimov, and S. V. Smirnov, Vacuum, 173, 109115 (2020).
Yu. G. Yushkov, E. M. Oks, A. V. Tyunkov, and D. B. Zolotukhin, Ceram. Int., 45, No. 8, 9782 (2019).
V. A. Burdovitsin, I. S. Zhirkov, E. M. Oks, et.al., Pribory Tekhn. Eksper., No. 6, 66 (2005).
I. S. Zhirkov, V. A. Burdovitsin, E. M. Oks, and I. V. Osipov, Tech. Phys., 51, 1379 (2006).
E. M. Oks, Plasma-Cathode Electron Sources: Physics, Technology and Applications [in Russian], NTL Publ., Tomsk (2005).
V. L. Galansky, V. A. Gruzdev, I. V. Osipov, and N. G. Rempe, J. Phys. D: Appl. Phys., 27, No. 5, 953 (1994).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Translated from Izvestiya Vysshikh Uchebnykh Zavedenii, Fizika, No. 11, pp. 26–30, November, 2022.
Rights and permissions
Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.
About this article
Cite this article
Burdovitsin, V.A., Bakeev, I.Y., Karpov, K.I. et al. Influence of the Gas Type on the Electrical Strength of an Accelerating Gap of a Forevacuum Plasma Electron Source. Russ Phys J 65, 1819–1824 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11182-023-02836-0
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11182-023-02836-0