Investigation of the Directional Velocities of Ions in a Vacuum Arc Discharge by Emission Methods

This paper is devoted to an investigation of the directional velocities of the ions generated in cathode spots of vacuum arc discharges. By using emission methods of studying the processes in a vacuum arc discharge, which involve the determination of the parameters and characteristics of the discharge plasma by analyzing the ion current extracted from the plasma and the ion charge states, the velocities of ions have been determined for the majority of cathode materials available in the periodic table. Is has been shown that at a low pressure of the residual gas in the discharge gap the directional velocities of the ions do not depend on the ion charge state. Comparison of the data obtained with calculated values allows the conclusion that the acceleration of ions in a vacuum arc occurs by the magnetohydrodynamic mechanism.