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Initiation of ecton processes by interaction of a plasma with a microprotrusion on a metal surface

  • Statistical, Nonlinear, and Soft Matter Physics
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Abstract

Evolution of rapid (∼10 ns) Ohmic overheating of a microprotrusion on a surface in contact with a plasma by emission current is studied taking into account the energy carried by plasma ions and electrons, as well as Ohmic heating, emissive source of energy release (Nottingham effect), and heat removal due to heat conduction. Plasma parameters were considered in the range of n = 1014−1020 cm−3 and T e = 0.1 eV−10 keV. The threshold value of energy transferred to the surface from the plasma is found to be 200 MW/cm2; above this value, heating becomes explosive (namely, an increase in the temperature growth rate (δ2 T/δt 2 > 0) and in passing current (δJ/δt > 0) is observed in the final stage at T ∼ 104 K and j ∼ 108 A/cm2). In spite of the fact that Ohmic heating does not play any significant role for plasmas with a density lower than 10 18 cm−3 because the current is limited by the space charge of electrons, rapid overheating of top of microprotrusion is observed much sooner (over a time period of ∼1 ns) when the threshold is exceeded. In this case, intense ionization of vapor of the wall material leads to an increase in the plasma density at the surface, and the heating becomes of the Ohmic explosion type. Such conditions for the formation of a micrĭxplosion on the surface and of an ecton accompanying it can be created during the interaction of a plasma with the cathode, anode, or an insulated wall and may lead to the formation of cathode and anode spots, as well as unipolar arcs.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Prokhorov Institute of General Physics, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, 119991, Russia

    S. A. Barengolts

  2. Lebedev Physical Institute, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, 119991, Russia

    G. A. Mesyats & M. M. Tsventoukh

Authors
  1. S. A. Barengolts
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  2. G. A. Mesyats
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  3. M. M. Tsventoukh
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Correspondence to M. M. Tsventoukh.

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Original Russian Text © S.A. Barengolts, G.A. Mesyats, M.M. Tsventoukh, 2008, published in Zhurnal Éksperimental’noĭ i Teoreticheskoĭ Fiziki, 2008, Vol. 134, No. 6, pp. 1213–1224.

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Barengolts, S.A., Mesyats, G.A. & Tsventoukh, M.M. Initiation of ecton processes by interaction of a plasma with a microprotrusion on a metal surface. J. Exp. Theor. Phys. 107, 1039–1048 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1134/S1063776108120133

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1134/S1063776108120133

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