Journal of Radio Electronics. eISSN 1684-1719. 2026. ¹1
Full text in Russian (pdf)
DOI: https://doi.org/10.30898/1684-1719.2026.1.8
INTERCONNECTION BETWEEN THE BREAKDOWN VOLTAGE
OF A VACUUM GAP AND ITS FIELD-EMISSION CHARACTERISTICS
Yu.A. Zemskov, Yu.I. Mamontov, I.V. Uimanov
Institute of Electrophysics UB RAS,
620016, Russia, Yekaterinburg, Amundsena Str., 106
The paper was received October 23, 2025.
Abstract. The general trends in changing the local electric field enhancement factor β at a cathode surface of a vacuum gap simultaneously with its static breakdown voltage (BV) were investigated as the cathode surface was eroded by vacuum breakdowns. The cathode was a pure-copper needle with a diameter of ~60 μm and a length of ~15 mm with a spherical tip with a diameter of ~70 μm; the anode was flat. A series of experimental cycles was carried out; each cycle incorporated sequentially performed stages of investigating the field-emission current-voltage characteristics (CVC) of the vacuum gap and testing its BV. The BV test also acted as an eroding factor, which led to a change in the cathode surface state for the next measurement cycle. By analyzing the obtained field-emission CVCs for each cycle, the β coefficient was determined, based on which the BV value was estimated for the accepted value of the copper breakdown electric field strength of 10×107 V/cm. In turn, the calculated BV value was compared with those directly measured within the particular experimental cycle. Furthermore, a field emission orthodoxy test was applied to the obtained field-emission CVCs. It was found that it was possible to predict the BV value with a relative error of no more than 10 %. It was also shown that for β values providing the best match between the calculated and experimentally measured BV values, the emission orthodoxy factor was significantly above the range associated with “pure” field emission. The obtained results allow the conclusion that it is possible to develop an approach to experimentally estimating the BV of vacuum gaps in a non-destructive way, that is, without direct BV tests, but considering only the field emission properties of the gap. This approach may find wide application when developing and testing high-power, high-voltage electrophysical devices.
Key words: field electron emission, emission current, current measurement, capacitors.
Corresponding author: Yuriy Igorevich Mamontov, mamontov@iep.uran.ru
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For citation:
Zemskov Yu.A., Mamontov Yu.I., Uimanov I.V. Interconnection between the breakdown voltage of a vacuum gap and its field-emission characteristics // Journal of Radio Electronics. – 2026. – ¹. 1. https://doi.org/10.30898/1684-1719.2026.1.8 (In Russian)