Effect of the discharge parameters on the generation of deuterium ions in the plasma of a high-current pulsed vacuum arc with a composite zirconium deuteride cathode
- Authors: Nikolaev A.G.1, Oks E.M.1,2, Frolova V.P.1, Yushkov G.Y.1, Shmelev D.L.3, Uimanov I.V.3, Barengol’ts S.A.4,5
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Affiliations:
- Institute of High-Current Electronics, Ural Branch
- Tomsk State University of Control System and Radio Electronics
- Institute of Electrophysics, Ural Branch
- Prokhorov General Physics Institute
- Russian Academy of Sciences
- Issue: Vol 62, No 5 (2017)
- Pages: 701-707
- Section: Plasma
- URL: https://journals.rcsi.science/1063-7842/article/view/199369
- DOI: https://doi.org/10.1134/S1063784217050218
- ID: 199369
Cite item
Abstract
We have studied the mass and charge composition of an ion beam extracted from the plasma of a vacuum arc with a zirconium deuteride cathode for various durations of the arc current pulse (half width at half amplitude) of 2, 4, 7, and 17 μs. It has been established that the fraction of deuterium ions in the vacuum arc plasma increases with the current and the dependence achieve saturation for current of about 1 kA. For the fraction of deuterium atoms in the cathode at a level of 40%, the fraction of deuterium ions in the vacuum arc plasma can exceed 80%. The experimental results have been interpreted theoretically. It has been shown that the main sources of deuterium ions in a microsecond arc discharge are cathode spots. We have developed a model of deuterium desorption during the operation of cathode spots for quantitatively estimating the concentration of deuterium ions in the arc plasma.
About the authors
A. G. Nikolaev
Institute of High-Current Electronics, Ural Branch
Author for correspondence.
Email: nik@opee.hcei.tsc.ru
Russian Federation, Tomsk, 634055
E. M. Oks
Institute of High-Current Electronics, Ural Branch; Tomsk State University of Control System and Radio Electronics
Email: nik@opee.hcei.tsc.ru
Russian Federation, Tomsk, 634055; Tomsk, 634050
V. P. Frolova
Institute of High-Current Electronics, Ural Branch
Email: nik@opee.hcei.tsc.ru
Russian Federation, Tomsk, 634055
G. Yu. Yushkov
Institute of High-Current Electronics, Ural Branch
Email: nik@opee.hcei.tsc.ru
Russian Federation, Tomsk, 634055
D. L. Shmelev
Institute of Electrophysics, Ural Branch
Email: nik@opee.hcei.tsc.ru
Russian Federation, Yekaterinburg, 620016
I. V. Uimanov
Institute of Electrophysics, Ural Branch
Email: nik@opee.hcei.tsc.ru
Russian Federation, Yekaterinburg, 620016
S. A. Barengol’ts
Prokhorov General Physics Institute; Russian Academy of Sciences
Email: nik@opee.hcei.tsc.ru
Russian Federation, Moscow, 119991; Moscow, 119991