Unified Analytical Treatment Of Near- Cathode Layers Of Arc Discharges With Application To Spotless Cathodic Attachment Of Vacuum Arcs

Abstract

Under typical conditions of arc discharges, both in vacuum and ambient gases, a significant electrical power is deposited by the arc power supply into a thin near-cathode plasma layer, comprising the space-charge sheath and eventually the adjacent ionization layer. It is in this layer that the ion flux to the cathode surface is generated. A part of the deposited power is transported by the ion flux to the cathode surface, thus heating it to temperatures sufficient for electron emission, and the rest is transported into the bulk plasma.