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A vacuum arc is an electrical discharge, in which the current is supported by localized cathode heating and plasma generation in minute regions at the cathode surface called cathode spots. Cathode spots produce a metallic plasma jet used in many applications (microelectronics, space thrusters, film deposition, etc.). Nevertheless, the cathode spot is a problematic and unique subject. For a long time, the mechanisms of spot initiation, time development, instability, high mobility, and behavior in magnetic fields have been described by approaches that caused some controversy. These spot characteristics were discussed in numerous publications over many years. The obscurity and confusion of different studies created the impression that the cathode spot is a mysterious phenomenon. In the present work, a number of typical representative publications are reviewed with the intention of clarifying problems and contradictions. Two main theories of cathodic arcs are presented along with an analysis of the experimental data. One of the approaches illustrates the cathode heating by Joule energy dissipation (volume heat source, a sharp rise in current density, etc.), nearly constant cathode potential drop, and other certain initial conditions. On the other hand, a study using a mathematically closed approach shows that the spot initiation and development are determined not by electron emission current rise but by a rise in arc power density, affecting heat sources including the energy of ion flux to the cathode (surface heat source).

The importance of understanding the energy loss specifics by the cathode for vacuum arc metallic plasma generation and its applications were emphasized. To this end, the heat conduction losses per unit current were characterized by the cathode effective voltage uef, which is weakly dependent on the current. In this paper, a physical model and a mathematical approach were developed to describe the energy dissipation due to heat conduction in the cathode body, which is heated by energy outflowed from the adjacent plasma. The arc plasma generation was considered by taking into account the kinetics of the heavy particle fluxes in the non-equilibrium layer near the vaporizing surface. The phenomena of electric sheath, heat and mass transfer at the cathode were taken into account. The self-consistent numerical analysis was performed with a system of equations for a copper cathode spot. The transient analysis starts from the spot initiation, modeled by the plasma arising at the initial time determined by the kind of arc triggering, up to spot development. The results of the calculations show that the cathode effective voltage uef is determined by the cathode temperature as a function of spot time. The calculated evolution of the voltage uef shows that the steady state of uef is approximately 7 V, and it is reached when the cathode temperature reaches a steady state at approximately one microsecond. This essential result provides an explanation for the good agreement with the experimental cathode effective voltage (6–8 V) measured for the arc duration from one millisecond up to a few seconds.

The model of plasma production by laser radiation onto a solid target was developed taking into account plasma heating by the emitted electrons and target heating by ion bombardment, as well as by the laser radiation. The near target plasma structure was analyzed. The space charge sheath was studied solving the Poisson equation and taking into account the volume charge of accelerated electrons and ions. The kinetics of atoms evaporated from the target and the back-flow of atoms and ions from the plasma towards the surface was analyzed. A system of equations, including equations for solid heat conduction, plasma generation and the plasma expansion was formulated. The calculation for Cu target, laser spot radius 100 μm, pulse duration 1 ms, 103, 10, 1ns and laser power density qL = 10−3–1 GW/cm2 was conducted. The ratio of net evaporation rate to the total evaporated mass flux was determined. It was shown that the plasma mainly generated in the electron emission beam relaxation region and there the plasma flow is subsonic. The electric field at the target surface is relatively large and therefore the ion current to the surface in the space region is large and comparable with the electron emission current. A large contribution of the plasma energy flux in the target heat regime was obtained, showing that the laser generated plasma significantly converts the absorbed laser energy to kinetic and potential energy of the plasma particles, which transport part of the energy through the electrostatic sheath to the solid surface. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Low voltage, low energy submerged pulsed arcs with a pulse repetition rate of 100 Hz, energy of 48 mJ and duration of 20 μs were used to determine the electrode erosion rate during treatment of 10 mg l−1 methylene blue (MB) dissolved in 40 ml of deionized water, with and without the addition of 0.5% H2O2. Anode/cathode pairs of Fe/Fe, Ti/Ti, Cu/Cu, Cu/Fe, Fe/Cu, Ti/Fe, Fe/Ti, Cu/Ti and Ti/Cu were used. Smaller cathode erosion was measured, in the solutions without H2O2, with copper cathodes than with other cathodes. Smaller anode erosion in the same conditions was demonstrated by using pairs with a Ti anode than with other anodes and larger erosion was found for Cu anodes. By adding H2O2 to the treated solution, smaller cathode erosion was measured by using pairs with a Ti cathode than with other cathodes and larger rates were measured for Fe cathodes. The largest anode erosion was observed for a Cu anode. The erosion of the anode and cathode depends on material combination of the electrode pairs, i.e. on the thermo physical properties of the electrode materials. The correlations of anode/cathode erosion ratio (Ga/Gc) with ratio (qam/qcm) for various electrode materials were found, where qam and qcm are heat fluxes in the body of the anode and cathode, respectively. The experimental data were fitted by curves described with equation Ga/Gc=A(qa/qc)−b where A and b are experimental constants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]