Modeling of High-Gradient Vacuum Breakdown

TL;DR

This paper investigates the heating and cooling processes of microspots on cathodes using finite element modeling, and explores the reasons behind the lack of a unified model for vacuum arcs despite extensive research.

Contribution

It applies Comsol finite element techniques to study microspot thermal behavior and analyzes the reasons for the absence of a comprehensive vacuum arc model.

Findings

Finite element modeling reveals detailed heating and cooling dynamics.

Identifies challenges in developing a universal vacuum arc model.

Abstract

Comsol finite element technique was applied to study heating and cooling of a microspot on the cathode surface. The reasons why there seems to be no common model for vacuum arcs, in spite of the importance of this field and the level of effort expended over more than one hundred years, were explored.