Vapor-cone angles of neutrals and ions emanating from the cathode of a dc mercury vacuum arc
- 1 October 1976
- journal article
- research article
- Published by AIP Publishing in Journal of Applied Physics
- Vol. 47 (10), 4448-4450
- https://doi.org/10.1063/1.322410
Abstract
A stream of ions and neutrals emerges from the cathode of a vacuum arc discharge. Measurements made on a spot‐anchored dc mercury vacuum arc show that, beyond the region of heavy‐particle collisions, ions and neutrals are confined to the same circular vapor cone, and that the angle of this cone depends on the electron‐to‐atom emission ratio. This result is interpreted as indicative of the generation of the ions at the cathode spots in the form of highly directional vapor jets.This publication has 4 references indexed in Scilit:
- Velocity of neutral atoms emanating from the cathode of a steady-state low-pressure mercury arcJournal of Applied Physics, 1973
- Efflux of Atoms From Cathode Spots of Low-Pressure Mercury ArcJournal of Applied Physics, 1971
- Vacuum arc ion currents and electrode phenomenaProceedings of the IEEE, 1971
- The vacuum switch. Part 1: Properties of the vacuum arcProceedings of the Institution of Electrical Engineers, 1963