A periodic table of ion charge state distributions observed in the transition region between vacuum sparks and vacuum arcs

Ion charge state distributions have been measured with high time resolution for short and long arc pulses. Data for 3 μs and quasi-steady state are given for most conductive elements in a Periodic Table. The mean ion charge states can be fitted by functions of the form Q¯=Q¯_t→∞ [1+A exp(-t/τ)] where A is an enhancement function that depends on the power density. For the present conditions, A~1 and τ~50 μs