Eur. Phys. J. Appl. Phys. 84, 30801 (2018)
https://doi.org/10.1051/epjap/2018180262

Regular Article

On the current density at the cathode of a vacuum arc

Keiser University, Fort Lauderdale, FL 33309, USA

^* e-mail: vals2@comcast.net

Received: 14 September 2018
Received in final form: 19 November 2018
Accepted: 29 November 2018
Published online: 14 January 2019

Abstract

In view of the revival of activity on vacuum arcs, it is important to analyze the basic experimental data used in theory. Current density is one of the most important parameters. It is shown that the current density obtained by measuring postmortem arc craters could substantially underestimate the real current density.