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

Journal Article · Thu Dec 22 00:00:00 EST 2005 · Journal of Applied Physics

OSTI ID:889246

Anders, Andre; Oks, Efim

Current fluctuations of cathodic arcs were recorded withhigh analog bandwidth (up to 1 GHz) and fast digital sampling (up to 5Gsamples/sec). The power spectral density of the arc current wasdetermined by fast Fourier transform clearly showing material dependent,non-linear features in the frequency domain. These features can beassociated with the non-linear impedance of the conducting channelbetween cathode and anode, driven by the explosive nature of electronemission and plasma formation. The characteristic times of less than 100ns can be associated with individual explosive processes, "ectons," andtherefore represent the short-time physical cutoff for the fractal modelof cathodic arcs.

• Research Organization: Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE. Administrator for the National Nuclear SecurityAdministration,National Security and Non-Proliferation Program.Proliferation Prevention Project IPP-LBNL-T2-196/Argone NationalLaboratory; Russian Foundation for Basic Research Grant#02-05-16256-a
• DOE Contract Number: DE-AC02-05CH11231
• OSTI ID: 889246
• Report Number(s): LBNL-59251; R&D Project: Z2N196; BnR: NN4101010
• Journal Information: Journal of Applied Physics, Vol. 99, Issue 10; Related Information: Journal Publication Date: May 2006
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

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cathodic vacuum arc noise Fourier analysis