Plasma generation in the pulsed mode of the non-self-sustained arc discharge with combined heated and hollow cathods

The results of the study of pulsed combustion modes of a non-self-sustained arc discharge with combined hot and hollow cathodes are presented. The main characteristics of the discharge were measured at currents up to 350 A and the discharge voltage of up to 200 V in the operating pressure range (0.2 - 1) Pa. It is shown that an increase in the working pressure leads to an increase in the discharge current as a result of gas amplification caused by the improvement of the processes of utilization of the energy of fast electrons in gas ionization processes. The maximum received discharge current in a nitrogen atmosphere at a pressure of 0.8 Pa was 550 A at a discharge voltage of up to 200 V and a maximum pulsed power of up to 80 kW. The plasma density in the center of the chamber with a volume of ≈ 0.2 m³ is about 4·10¹⁷ m^-3 with an ion current density from the plasma of about 6.5 mA/cm² and a pulsed discharge power of 18 kW.

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