Abstract
The pulsed vacuum arc discharge using a metal deuteride cathode is widely applied as a deuterium ion source, where the upper limit of the deuterium ion yield is largely determined by the deuterium releasing quantity (DRQ) from the cathode. This work aims to measure the DRQ at various discharge conditions, and meanwhile develop a simple thermoelectric model to evaluate the deuterium liberation from different sources, such as the crater vicinity during the arc power-on phase and the hot crater in the afterglow. The calculated DRQ are in accordance with the experimental results obtained by measuring the D2 pressure evolution in the early afterglow using a quadrupole mass spectrometer. Furthermore, the model reveals that at low arc current (<10 A), the DRQ orginates dominantly from the crater vicinity, leading to a low conversion efficiency of the released deuterium to ions and a high D:Ti elemental ratio in the released cathode vapor.
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