Investigations of the Current Density in the Cathode Spot of a Vacuum Arc

Abstract
A short review is given on the problem of the current density in the cathode spot of a vacuum arc, theoretical models and experimental results are discussed. A new measuring method is presented which is directly related to the current carrying area of the spot. It leads to current densities of 1012 A/m2 at clean surfaces (comparable with results obtained from crater measurements) and 109−1010 A/m2 with contaminated surfaces.

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