This book is devoted to a thorough investigation of the physics and applications of the vacuum arc - a highly-ionized metallic plasma source used in a number of applications - with emphasis on cathode spot phenomena and plasma formation. The goal is to understand the origins and behavior of various complex and sometimes mysterious phenomena involved in arc formation, such as cathode spots, electrode vaporization, and near-electrode plasma formation. The book takes the reader from a model of dense cathode plasma based on charge-exchange ion-atom collisions through a kinetic approach to cathode vaporization and on to metal thermophysical properties of cathodes. The picture is further enhanced by an in-depth study of cathode jets and plasma acceleration, the effects of magnetic fields on cathode spot behavior, and electrical characteristics of arcs and cathode spot dynamics. The book also describes applications to space propulsion, thin film deposition, laser plasma generation, and magnetohydrodynamics, making this comprehensive and up-to-date volume a valuable resource for researchers in academia and industry.

Autorentext
Isak Beilis is a Professor in the Faculty of Engineering at Tel Aviv University. He received his PhD and Doctor of Science in Physics and mathematics from the Academy of Sciences, Moscow, and subsequently held positions at  Lomonosov University, Moscow, the Weizmann Institute for Science, joining Tel Aviv University in 1992. He has held visiting positions at the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, USA in 1996 and 1997, at the Max Planck Institute, Berlin, and the Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Italy. His research centers around physical phenomena in high-current electrical discharges, at the electrode surface and in near-electrode plasma. In 2018 he was awarded the Walter P. Dyke Award for his many important contributions to discharge physics.

Inhalt
PrefaceIntroductionPart 1. General plasma and solid-plasma interface phenomenaChapter 1. Base particle-surface and plasma particle effects1.1Plasma, particle collisions at the surface and in plasma volume1.2Plasma1.2.1Quasi-neutrality1.2.2Oscillations.1.2.3Electron beam-plasma interaction.1.2.4Plasma State.1.3Surface-particle collisions1.4Plasma particle collisions1.4.1Charge particle collisions1.4.2Electron scattering on atoms1.4.3Charge-exchange collisions1.4.4Excitation and ionization collisions1.4.4.1Classical approach1.4.4.2Quantum mechanical approach1.4.4.3Experimental data1.4.5Electron-ion recombination1.4.6Ionization-recombination equilibriumChapter 2. Atom and electron emission from the metal surface2.1Kinetics of metal vaporization2.1.1Non-equilibrium (kinetic) region2.1.2Kinetic approaches. Atom evaporations2.1.3Kinetic approaches. Evaporations into plasma2.2Electron emission2.2.1Work function. Electron function distribution2.2.2Thermionic or T-emission2.2.3Schottky effect. Field or F-emission2.2.4Thermionic and Field or TF-emission2.2.5Threshold approximation2.2.6Individual electron emission2.2.7Fowler-Northeim-type equations and their correcting for measured plot analysis2.2.8Explosive electron emissionChapter 3. Arc spot as a local heat source. Heat conduction of a solid body.3.1Brief state of the art analysis3.2Thermal regime of a semi-finite body. Methods in linearly approximation3.2.1Point source. Continuous heating3.2.2Normal circular heat source on a body surface.3.2.3Instantaneous normal circular heat source on semi-infinity body3.2.4Moving normal circular heat source on a semi-infinity body3.3Heating of a thin plate3.3.1Instantaneous normal circular heat source on a plate3.3.2Moving normal circular heat source on a plate3.4A normal distributed heat source moving on lateral side of a thin semi-infinite plate3.4.1Instantaneous normally distributed heat source on side of a thin semi-infinite plate3.4.2Moving continuous normally distributed heat source on thin plate of thickness .3.4.3Fixed normal-strip heat source with thickness x0 on semi-infinite body.3.4.4Fixed normal-strip heat source with thickness x0 on semi-infinite body limited by plane x=-/23.4.5Fixed normal-strip heat source with thickness x0 on lateral side of finite plate (x03.4.6Moving normal-strip heat source on a later plate side of limited thickness (x03.5Temperature field calculations. Normal circular heat source on a semi-infinite body3.5.1Temperature field in a tungsten3.5.2Temperature field in a copper.3.5.3Temperature field calculations. Normal heat source on a later side of thin plate and plate with limited thickness3.5.4Summary3.6Nonlinear heat conduction 3.6.1Heat conduction problems related to the cathode thermal regime in vacuum arcs3.6.2Normal circular heat source action on a semi-infinity body with nonlinear boundary condition3.6.3Numerical solution of 3D heat conduction equation with nonlinear boundary conditionReferencesChapter 4. The transport equations and diffusion phenomena in multicomponent plasma4.1The problem4.2Transport phenomena in a plasma. General equations4.2.1Equations of particle fluxes for three-components cathode plasma4.2.2Transport equations for three-component cathode plasma4.2.3Transport equations for five-component cathode plasmaReferencesChapter 5. Plasma surface transition at ...