Parameters of the cathode spot upon field emission

This work is devoted to studying the parameters of the cathode spot of a vacuum arc. According to calculations under conditions of autoelectronic emission, the temperature of the cathode spot is T _n = (1–2.5) × 10³ K, the electric-field strength is E = (1–6) × 10⁷ V cm^?1, and the current density in the spot is j _n = (0.15–3) × 10⁷ A cm^?2. The values of the cathode-spot parameters for cathodes of different materials are obtained and the type of electron emission is determined.     

Performance of a combined magnetron pump-gauge at ultrahigh vacuum

This paper reports experimental results on 3 magnetron pump-gauges designed to combine the properties of UHV magnetron pumps and magnetron gauges into a single device with a portable (battery operated) power supply. The pump-gauges had a renewable cathode of Ti and were useful in the pressure range 7 × 10^?9 to 1.5 × 10^?4 Pa. As gauges, the sensitivities were about 1.5 × 10^?2 A Pa^?1. As pumps, the speeds were about 0.15 litre s^?1 for Kr.     

Influence of the cathode and anode jets on the properties of a high-current electric arc

A study is made of the effects related to the formation of electrode jets in discharges in hydrogen and air at a current of 10⁵–10⁶ A, a current growth rate of 10¹⁰ A/s, an initial pressure of 0.1–4.0 MPa, and a discharge gap length of 5–40 mm. After secondary breakdown, jets are observed in a semitransparent discharge channel expanding with a velocity of (4–7)×10² m/s. The formation of shock waves in the interaction of the jets with the ambient gas and the opposite electrode is observed by the shadowgraphy method. Seventy microseconds after the beginning of the discharge, the pressure of the metal vapor plasma near the end of the tungsten cathode amounts to 177 MPa. The brightness temperature in this case is T=59×10³ K, the average ion charge number is [`(m)] = 3.1\overline m = 3.1 , and the metal vapor density is n=5.3×10<sup>19</sup> cm<sup>−3</sup>. After 90 μs, the average ion charge number and the metal vapor density near the anode end are [`(m)] = 2.6\overline m = 2.6 and n=7.4×10¹⁹ cm⁻³, respectively. Based on the experimental data, possible reasons for the abnormally high values of the total voltage drop near the electrodes (up to ∼1 kV) are discussed.     

基于沉淀工艺制作四脚氧化锌纳米材料场致发射阴极的研究

采用沉淀法制备四脚氧化锌纳米材料场致发射阴极,将阴极和荧光屏封装起来抽真空并对屏施加电压,测试阴极的发射电流和荧光屏的发光亮度.利用沉淀法制备出面积为(13×15) cm²的阴极,测试结果表明,硅酸钾体积百分比在50×10^-3—83×10^-3范围,硝酸钡浓度在50×10^-4—77×10^-4 M范围,四脚氧化锌的浓度在82×10^-4—12×10^{-3关键词： 场致发射 沉淀法 显示屏亮度}     

Structural and optical characterization of DC magnetron sputtered molybdenum oxide films

Thin films of molybdenum trioxide were deposited on glass substrates employing direct current (DC) magnetron sputtering by sputtering of molybdenum at different oxygen partial pressures in the range 8 × 10⁻⁵–1 × 10⁻³ mbar and at a substrate temperature of 473 K. The glow discharge characteristics of magnetron cathode target of molybdenum were studied. The influence of oxygen partial pressure on the structural and optical properties of molybdenum trioxide films was investigated. The films formed at an optimum oxygen partial pressure of 2 × 10⁻⁴ mbar were polycrystalline in nature with orthorhombic α- phase and an optical band gap of 3.16 eV. The refractive index of the films formed at an oxygen partial pressure of 2 × 10⁻⁴ mbar decreased from 2.08 to 1.89 with increase of wavelength from 450 to 1,000 nm, respectively. Paper presented at the Third International Conference on Ionic Devices (ICID 2006), Chennai, Tamilnadu, India, Dec. 7–9, 2006.     

Formation of Films of Tungsten and its Oxides in a High-Frequency Capacitive Discharge in a D<Subscript>2</Subscript>-O<Subscript>2</Subscript> Mixture

A technique for tungsten-film deposition on different substrates in asymmetrical high-frequency (1.76 MHz) capacitive discharge in a D₂?6.5 mol % O₂ mixture under a total pressure of 15 Pa and at 60–130°C is considered. A circular W strip near the upper inner edge of a cylindrical hollow cathode with a radius of 4.2 cm and a height of 10 cm is the source of W particles. The smooth transition from sputtering of the inner surface to deposition occurs at a distance of about 4 cm from the upper boundary of the open part of the cathode. W, Mo, ZrO₂, Si, and Cu substrates are placed in the lower closed end (bottom) and on the inner lateral cathode surface. At the upper cathode edge the sputtering yield is (4–5) × 10^?2 at/ion. The mass rate of W deposition on the cathode bottom does not depend on the substrate type and is 40 μg/(cm² h). The peculiarities of the composition, morphology, and structure of W films obtained on the lateral surface and bottom of the hollow cathode are discussed.     

The profile of the Fe 372·00 nm line excited in a hollow cathode discharge

The profile of the Fe 372·00 nm line emitted in the negative glow of a hollow-cathode discharge is analyzed. The value of the discharge current was varied within the range 7–15 mA, the neon pressure being 1·22–4·40 Torr. The Lorenzian and Gaussian components of the recorded line profile were corrected for instrumental broadening. A correlation was found to exist between the Gaussian component and the cathode voltage drop. The half-width of the Lorentzian component shows the expected dependence on gas pressure. Under the operating conditions used, this component is approx. 10² times greater than the natural one. No dependence on the discharge current was observed. The emitted line profiles may be considered to be Voigt functions with the Voigt parameter varying in the range 3·2 × 10^-2 to 5.5 × 10^-2     

Variations in the parameters of the erosion lead plasma with distance from the laser target

The main parameters of the erosion lead plasma (the atomic density, the densities of electrons and single-and double-charged ions, the pressure, the mean free path, and the degree of ionization) at distances 1 and 7 mm from the laser target are investigated using emission spectroscopy. The plasma was produced by using a repetitive neodymium laser with a peak intensity of (3–5) × 10⁸ W/cm², wavelength of 1.06 μm, pulse duration of 20 ns, and repetition rate of 12 Hz. Original Russian Text ? A.K. Shuaibov, M.P. Chuchman, 2006, published in Zhurnal Tekhnicheskoĭ Fiziki, 2006, Vol. 76, No. 11, pp. 61–65.     

FXR discharges at various pressures

The formation period time, current rise time, and photon energy of FXR discharges have been investigated at initial pressures of 5×10^?6 to 1×10^?2Torr. It has been found that the parameters studied are almost constant between 5×10^?6 and 1×10^?3Torr. The results obtained indicate that the upper limit of the interelectrode breakdown pressure is about 10^?3 Torr when the initial pressure is 10^?6 Torr.     

XPS on impregnated cathodes: Surface concentrations and thermal stability

Photoelectron spectra are presented for S, M and scandate cathodes before and after the activation procedure. Using the calculatory method and the Ba deposition method the Ba coverages for the S, M and Sc cathodes have been established as 4.0×10¹⁴, 5.8×10¹⁴ and 5.8×10¹⁴ Ba atoms cm^-2 respectively. On the Os-Ru cathode an enhancement of the Ru concentration is found which may be due to segregation. Further a short investigation was made into the thermal stability of the Ba overlayer and its regeneration. It appears that after a heating cycle to 1200 °C the S and M cathodes recover very well whereas the Sc cathode suffers from the loss of Sc which is inherently connected with the fine emission properties of this cathode.     

Model Experiments on Study of the First Wall Erosion Under the Action of Vacuum Arcs

With d. c. vacuum arc discharges the dependence of cathode erosion rate on the transverse magnetic field induction is non-linear. At first erosion rate rises with the magnetic induction and then drops. The maximum erosion rate value corresponds to the magnetic induction interval (50 – 115) · 10^?4 T. The range of the vacuum arc discharge maximum stability also corresponds to the same interval. When the magnetic induction rises from 2 · 10^?3 up to 1.1 · 10^?2 T (I = 50 A), the erosion products angular distribution monotoneously narrows and with further magnetic ficld enhancement it abruptly widens. Current rise results in increasing extension of erosion products angular distribution. Asymmetry of erosion products angular distribution does not depend on the direction of the magnetic induction vector and gradually vanishes when the magnetic induction rises up to 1 · 10^?2 T and higher.     

Design and performance of a 2-D multi-wire position sensitive X-ray detector

A 2-D multi-wire position sensitive detector for X-ray diffraction and small angle X-ray scattering studies is described. The detector has an active area of 100 mm × 100 mm and consists of an anode plane with 10 μm SS wires at 3 mm spacing and a pair of orthogonal cathode readout planes with 25 μm SS wires placed at 1.5 mm spacing. The position information is obtained using charge division method and recorded using a laboratory built data acquisition system. The resolution and gas gain was measured for 5.9 keV X-rays (⁵⁵Fe-source) as a function of the anode wire voltage and gas pressure. It was observed that the proportional region of the PSD at 100 kPa pressure extended up to a high voltage value of around 1.5 kV and it shifted to high values up to 2 kV for gas pressure of 300 kPa. The energy resolution improved from 18% (FWHM) to 12% with increase in pressure. The spatial resolution of the PSD also showed improvement, with a value of 1.2 mm × 1.4 mm at 300 kPa gas pressure. A maximum gain of 5 × 10⁴ is obtained.     

Generation of thermonuclear energy by fusing hydrogen and lithium atoms

A method of designing a thermonuclear reactor based on the modified Cockroft-Walton accelerator, where the lithium-proton fusion was first observed, is considered. It is proposed that the reactor have the form of a spherical capacitor with a point lithium cathode used as the inner electrode and a spherical anode, as the outer electrode. The interelectrode space is filled with hydrogen. A high-voltage electric pulse applied to the electrodes is used as a driver. The reactor parameters providing an ion temperature of 100 keV and a proton flux of 8.6×10¹⁵ W/cm² to the cathode are determined. The basic elements of a system generating thermonuclear fusion energy, including those of the energy conversion chamber with a fusion chamber inside, are listed, and possible applications of the system are indicated.     

Improvement of the efficiency of a glow discharge-based ion emitter with oscillating electrons

Ion emission from the plasma of a low-pressure (≈5×10⁻² Pa) glow discharge with electrons oscillating in a weak (≈1 mT) magnetic field is studied in relation to the cold hollow cathode geometry. A hollow conic cathode used in the electrode system of a cylindrical inverted magnetron not only improves the extraction of plasma ions to ≈20% of the discharge current but also provides the near-uniform spatial distribution of the ion emission current density. The reason is the specific oscillations of electrons accelerated in the cathode sheath. They drift in the azimuth direction along a closed orbit and simultaneously move along the magnetic field toward the emitting surface of the plasma. A plasma emitter with a current density of ≈1 mA/cm² over an area of ≈100 cm² designed for an ion source with an operating voltage of several tens of kilovolts is described.     

Emission properties of a plasma cathode based on a glow discharge for generating nanosecond electron beams

The emission properties of a plasma cathode based on a nanosecond pulsed glow discharge with currents of up to 200A at a pressure of 5×10⁻² Pa are studied experimentally. Stable ignition and burning of the discharge are ensured if the current in the auxiliary pulsed discharge is 25–30% of that in the main discharge and its pulse duration exceeds that of the main discharge by more than an order of magnitude. Emission current pulses from the cathode with amplitudes of up to 140A fully reproduce the discharge current and are determined by the transparency of the grid anode. Zh. Tekh. Fiz. 69, 62–65 (November 1999)     

Experimental study of conditions for the 3D laser cladding of nickel aluminide

The layerwise laser cladding of powdered alloy based on intermetallic gamma Ni₃Al phase is studied. The effect deposition parameters have on the geometry of the deposited beads is shown. Microstructures are investigated and the cracking susceptibility of the deposited material is analyzed. The effective deposition parameters are determined within a range of specific laser energy inputs of (2–8) × 10⁶ J kg^?1 at beam scanning rates of (1.67–10) × 10^?3 m/s and a powder feed of 6.3 × 10^?5 kg/s^?1.     

The electron-optical system of the LIU-2 induction accelerator

The electron-optical system (EOS) of an induction accelerator for generation of an electron beam with an energy of 2 MeV, a current of 2 kA, an impulse duration of 2 × 10^?7 s, and a geometric output emittance not exceeding the thermal value of it is described. The EOS consists of two parts. The first part is a diode gun with a perveance of 2 × 10^?6 A/B^3/2 and a cathode-anode voltage of 1 MeV. The second part is an accelerating tube with uniform distribution of the same accelerating voltage. A beam is transported at a distance of about 4 m from the cathode and focused on a spot with a diameter of about 1 mm. The compliance tests results of the linear-induction accelerator precisely conform to the calculated design parameters.     

流体静压力对InSb输运性质的影响

在室温和流体静压力达12500公斤/厘米²下,测量了不同掺杂浓度的n型(5×10¹³—2.3×10¹⁸厘米^-3和p型(2.6×10¹⁴—6.0×10¹⁷厘米^-3)InSb的霍耳系数和电导率。分析结果发现,霍耳系数公式中散射因子随压力而减小,禁带宽的压力系数不是常数;得出禁带宽、载流子浓度、电子和空穴迁移率与压力的关系,并对压力下的载流子散射机构作了初步讨论。     

Mechanism of ion flow generation in vacuum arcs

The ecton model of the cathode spot is used to analyze the main parameters of ion flow in vacuum arcs (ion erosion, mean charge, and velocity). It is shown that the arc plasma is formed as a result of microexplosions at the cathode surface, induced by the Joule heating by the high-density current of explosive electron emission. Ionization processes are localized in a narrow region of the order of a micrometer near the cathode and the ionization composition of the plasma subsequently remains unchanged. Under the action of the electron pressure gradient, ions acquire directional velocities of the order of 10⁶ cm/s even over small distances of the order of several micrometers.     

Propagation and Diagnostic of Ion Acoustic Waves in a Low Pressure Argon Discharge

In a dc argon discharge column of pressure 5 × 10^?4 torr, ion acoustic waves are studied experimentally. Plasma parameters obtained from the phase velocity of waves are compared with the Langmuir probe measurements. The wave diagnostic method yields the electron temperature lower than the probe method by a factor of 3…?5, if the atomic argon ion is assumed as a dominant ion species. The axial profiles of ion drift velocity show the presence of ions flowing toward the anode along the potential drop in flont of it. Also it is found that the surface condition of the cathode sensitively affects the propagation of ion acoustic waves through the changes in discharge parameters.