Material-dependent high-frequency current fluctuations of cathodic vacuum arcs: Evidence for the ecton cutoff of the fractal model

Journal Article · Mon May 15 00:00:00 EDT 2006 · Journal of Applied Physics

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.2196244· OSTI ID:20795809

Anders, Andre; Oks, Efim ^[1]

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1. Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, 1 Cyclotron Road, Berkeley, California 94720 (United States)

Current fluctuations of cathodic arcs were recorded with high analog bandwidth (up to 1 GHz) and fast digital sampling (up to 5 Gsamples/s). The power spectral density of the arc current was determined by fast Fourier transform clearly showing material dependent, nonlinear features in the frequency domain. These features can be associated with the nonlinear impedance of the conducting channel between cathode and anode, driven by the explosive nature of electron emission and plasma formation. The characteristic times of less than 100 ns can be associated with individual explosive processes, 'ectons', and therefore represent the short-time physical cutoff for the fractal model of cathodic arcs.

• OSTI ID: 20795809
• Journal Information: Journal of Applied Physics, Vol. 99, Issue 10; Other Information: DOI: 10.1063/1.2196244; (c) 2006 American Institute of Physics; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0021-8979
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS
GENERAL PHYSICS
ANODES
CATHODES
ELECTRIC ARCS
ELECTRON EMISSION
FOURIER TRANSFORMATION
FRACTALS
IMPEDANCE
NONLINEAR PROBLEMS
PLASMA
SPECTRAL DENSITY
WALL EFFECTS