Vacuum arc
Encyclopedia
A vacuum arc can arise when the surfaces of metal
electrode
s in contact with a good vacuum
begin to emit electron
s either through heating (thermionic emission
) or via an electric field
that is sufficient to cause field electron emission. Once initiated, a vacuum arc can persist since the freed particles gain kinetic energy
from the electric field, heating the metal surfaces through high speed particle collisions. This process can create an incandescent cathode spot which frees more particles, thereby sustaining the arc. At sufficiently high currents an incandescent anode spot may also be formed.
Electrical discharge in vacuum is important for certain types of vacuum tube
s and for high voltage vacuum switch
es.
The thermionic vacuum arc (TVA) is a new type of plasma source, which generates a pure metal and ceramic vapour plasma containing ions with a directed energy. TVA discharges can be ignited in high vacuum conditions between a heated cathode (electron gun) and an anode (tungsten crucible) containing the material. The accelerated electron beam, incident on the anode, heats the crucible, together with its contents, to a high temperature. After establishing a steadystate density of the evaporating anode material atoms, and when the voltage applied is high enough, a bright discharge is ignited between the electrodes.
Metal
A metal , is an element, compound, or alloy that is a good conductor of both electricity and heat. Metals are usually malleable and shiny, that is they reflect most of incident light...
electrode
Electrode
An electrode is an electrical conductor used to make contact with a nonmetallic part of a circuit...
s in contact with a good vacuum
Vacuum
In everyday usage, vacuum is a volume of space that is essentially empty of matter, such that its gaseous pressure is much less than atmospheric pressure. The word comes from the Latin term for "empty". A perfect vacuum would be one with no particles in it at all, which is impossible to achieve in...
begin to emit electron
Electron
The electron is a subatomic particle with a negative elementary electric charge. It has no known components or substructure; in other words, it is generally thought to be an elementary particle. An electron has a mass that is approximately 1/1836 that of the proton...
s either through heating (thermionic emission
Thermionic emission
Thermionic emission is the heat-induced flow of charge carriers from a surface or over a potential-energy barrier. This occurs because the thermal energy given to the carrier overcomes the binding potential, also known as work function of the metal. The charge carriers can be electrons or ions, and...
) or via an electric field
Electric field
In physics, an electric field surrounds electrically charged particles and time-varying magnetic fields. The electric field depicts the force exerted on other electrically charged objects by the electrically charged particle the field is surrounding...
that is sufficient to cause field electron emission. Once initiated, a vacuum arc can persist since the freed particles gain kinetic energy
Kinetic energy
The kinetic energy of an object is the energy which it possesses due to its motion.It is defined as the work needed to accelerate a body of a given mass from rest to its stated velocity. Having gained this energy during its acceleration, the body maintains this kinetic energy unless its speed changes...
from the electric field, heating the metal surfaces through high speed particle collisions. This process can create an incandescent cathode spot which frees more particles, thereby sustaining the arc. At sufficiently high currents an incandescent anode spot may also be formed.
Electrical discharge in vacuum is important for certain types of vacuum tube
Vacuum tube
In electronics, a vacuum tube, electron tube , or thermionic valve , reduced to simply "tube" or "valve" in everyday parlance, is a device that relies on the flow of electric current through a vacuum...
s and for high voltage vacuum switch
Switch
In electronics, a switch is an electrical component that can break an electrical circuit, interrupting the current or diverting it from one conductor to another....
es.
The thermionic vacuum arc (TVA) is a new type of plasma source, which generates a pure metal and ceramic vapour plasma containing ions with a directed energy. TVA discharges can be ignited in high vacuum conditions between a heated cathode (electron gun) and an anode (tungsten crucible) containing the material. The accelerated electron beam, incident on the anode, heats the crucible, together with its contents, to a high temperature. After establishing a steadystate density of the evaporating anode material atoms, and when the voltage applied is high enough, a bright discharge is ignited between the electrodes.
See also
- Electric arcElectric arcAn electric arc is an electrical breakdown of a gas which produces an ongoing plasma discharge, resulting from a current flowing through normally nonconductive media such as air. A synonym is arc discharge. An arc discharge is characterized by a lower voltage than a glow discharge, and relies on...
- Gas discharge
- Glow discharge
- Cathodic arc depositionCathodic Arc DepositionCathodic arc deposition or Arc-PVD is a physical vapor deposition technique in which an electric arc is used to vaporize material from a cathode target. The vaporized material then condenses on a substrate, forming a thin film...