It has been theoretically shown that, at a high percentage of primary electrons, plasma generation occurs due to the confinement of ions in the potential well created by the electrons, and not due to the accumulation of secondary electrons in the region of the hump of the potential formed by ions. An experimental setup and a technique have been developed to study the parameters of the plasma ion flow in a high-current vacuum arc with a current of 5-10 kA and duration of 12 μs.
As part of the study of the dynamics of the generation of pulsed plasma, electron, and radiation fluxes in high-power pulsed electrophysical devices, a theoretical plasma model has been developed that takes into account the contribution to the concentration made by primary particles. It is shown that the implementation of the regime with a plasma potential higher than the anode potential is possible only at a sufficiently high ionization intensity exceeding a certain critical level. In the experimental plan, a method was developed and measurements were made of the time and angular dependence of the ion flux intensity of a pulsed high-current vacuum arc with a current of about 10 kA in the configuration of a coaxial open electrode system. It is shown that the expansion angle of the plasma torch is 60o and decreases with increasing arc current. The obtained values of the ion velocities of 3.9÷27×106 cm/s are higher compared to the ion velocities for an arc discharge with a current of several hundred amperes. The process of plasma expansion is accompanied by the formation of intense plasma bursts, which lead to a significant anisotropy in the intensity of the ion flux.
