Parameters of the Ion Flux Generated in a Vacuum Arc With a Dielectric Cathode in the First Minutes After Breakdown

Abstract

Stability is one of the key directions of optimization for plasma sources. This article deals with the parameters of the plasma flux generated in a vacuum arc with a dielectric cathode made of CeO <inline-formula xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$_{2}$</tex-math> </inline-formula> in the period after a breakdown when the cathode relaxes after the impact caused by the initiation of plasma. The dielectric nature of the cathode made the period of relaxation rather long. It was shown that the plasma flux during the relaxation of the cathode was characterized by intense oscillations of ion energies and differed in the ionic composition from stable arcing. Cerium ions Ce <inline-formula xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$^{++}$</tex-math> </inline-formula> represented about 30% of the generated flux in the first minutes of the arc operation. An interpretation is presented of the anomalies observed.