Title :
Charge state and residence time of metal ions generated from a microsecond vacuum arc
Author :
Tsuruta, Koichi ; Suzuki, Katsunori ; Kunitsu, Kouji
Author_Institution :
Dept. of Electr. & Electron. Eng., Ibaraki Univ., Japan
fDate :
4/1/1992 12:00:00 AM
Abstract :
Metal ions generated from a microsecond vacuum arc were measured using a time-of-flight (TOF) method. A point-plane vacuum gap was fired by an impulse voltage to generate metal ions. The risetime and time constant for the decay of the arc current were 0.1 and 4.5 μs, respectively. TOF ion currents were measured for variable ion extraction times after the arc ignition. At a lead cathode, Pb+ and Pb ++ ions were detected for ion extraction times less than 45 μs. The average charge-state fractions of the Pb+ and Pb ++ ions were 91 and 9%, respectively. At a copper cathode, Cu +, Cu++, and Cu+++ ions were detected for ion-extraction times less than 12.5 μs, and the average charge-state fractions were 42, 41, and 17%, respectively. The residence times of the generated lead and copper ions were also discussed
Keywords :
arcs (electric); copper; lead; positive ions; time of flight spectra; 0.1 mus; 4.5 mus; Cu cathode; Cu+; Cu2+; Cu3+; Pb cathode; Pb+; Pb2+; TOF ion currents; arc ignition; charge-state fractions; current decay; impulse voltage; ion extraction times; metal ions; microsecond vacuum arc; point-plane vacuum gap; residence time; risetime; time constant; time-of-flight method; Cathodes; Coaxial cables; Copper; Electrodes; Lead; Linear particle accelerator; Pulse circuits; Vacuum arcs; Vacuum breakdown; Voltage;
Journal_Title :
Plasma Science, IEEE Transactions on
