On the problem of electron-emission mechanisms in the cathode spot of a vacuum arc discharge

A criterion for the F-type mechanism of electron emission in a vacuum-arc cathode spot is developed. It is shown that the implementation of F-electron emission in the cathode spot necessitates the fulfillment of three conditions: first, generation of the optimal electric field E _opt, second, implementation of atomic-ionic balance at which the E _opt field is generated and, third, retention of the cathode temperature lower than the inversion temperature of Nottingham’s effect. The calculations show that the heat of the evaporation of cathode atoms which meets these requirements does not exceed λ_a ～ 1.1–1.2 eV. Taking the possibility of F-T-emission into account, the evaporation heat can be slightly higher than λ_a ～ 1.5–1.6 eV. However, in this case, it turns out to be fairly small. Note that the number of such metals is not very large.