Title :
Measurement of the Vacuum Arc Plasma Force
Author :
Marks, Harry S. ; Beilis, Isak I. ; Boxman, Raymond L.
Author_Institution :
Sch. of Electr. Eng., Tel Aviv Univ., Tel Aviv
fDate :
7/1/2009 12:00:00 AM
Abstract :
The axial force carried by the expanding plasma plume from 50-250-A copper and aluminum vacuum arcs was measured using a pendulum whose axle was equipped with a rotary optical encoder. It was found that the force was a linear function of current. The electrode geometry was varied to find the maximum force. At maximum, the average forces per unit current were 21.4 dyn/A for aluminum cathodes and 36.1 dyn/A for copper cathodes. The Cu ion current fraction was measured to be 8.6%.
Keywords :
aluminium; copper; plasma diagnostics; vacuum arcs; Al; Cu; axial force; axle; cathodes; current 50 A to 250 A; electrode geometry; expanding plasma plume; force measurement; ion current fraction; pendulum; rotary optical encoder; vacuum arc plasma; Encoder; force measurement; pendulum; plasma jet; vacuum arc;
Journal_Title :
Plasma Science, IEEE Transactions on
DOI :
10.1109/TPS.2009.2022011
