Circuit modeling of a vacuum gap during breakdown

Author

Djogo, Goran ; Cross, James D.

Author_Institution

Rockwell Autom., Cambridge, Ont., Canada

Volume

25

Issue

4

fYear

1997

fDate

8/1/1997 12:00:00 AM

Firstpage

617

Lastpage

624

Abstract

In this paper several aspects of circuit modeling of a vacuum gap during breakdown are improved or introduced for the first time. More accurate perveance formulas are derived by the method of tracing electron trajectories in the self-consistent electric field calculated by the finite element method. The formula for maximum anode current density is also derived by the same method. A practical model of anode heating is proposed, by which transient anode temperature is calculated coupled with gap voltage and current, providing more accurate modeling of anode plasma initiation. The circuit model of a vacuum gap during breakdown incorporating all these features is implemented as a subcircuit element in the PSPICE

Keywords

discharges (electric); finite element analysis; modelling; vacuum breakdown; PSPICE; accurate perveance formulas; anode heating; breakdown; circuit modeling; electron trajectories tracing; finite element method; gap current; gap voltage; maximum anode current density; model; self-consistent electric field; subcircuit element; transient anode temperature; vacuum gap; Anodes; Coupling circuits; Current density; Electrons; Finite element methods; Heating; Plasma density; Plasma temperature; Vacuum breakdown; Voltage;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Plasma Science, IEEE Transactions on

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0093-3813

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/27.640674

Filename

640674