Formation of a high-current pulsed gas discharge as a source of highly concentrated energy flux to treat metal surfaces

The properties of a novel, pulsed, high-current gas discharge with minimized energy losses are investigated. The discharge provides a highly concentrated energy flux that can be used to treat metal surfaces and to form thin surface layers with desirable properties. A theoretical treatment of the formation of the discharge is presented, and the limitations on its voltage and interelectrode separation length are considered. Experiments are carried out to test the theoretical predictions of the discharge parameters. The experimental results show that more than 80% of the energy input to the discharge from the power supply is delivered to the metal surface