Dynamics studies of cathode spots in a vacuum-arc discharge with ring electrodes

The effect of an external pulse magnetic field with axial and radial components on electric characteristics of the discharge and the configuration of cathode spots of a vacuum arc discharge with ring electrodes is studied experimentally. For arc currents within the range of 0.05–2 kA, shots of the cathode spots at different instants of time are obtained. The dependences of the number of the spots on the discharge current and the mean current per spot are determined. It was found that the expansion rate of the cathode spots area depends significantly on the instant value of the discharge current. It is shown that, when the pulse magnetic field is applied, the discharge voltage increases and the discharge current and number of the cathode spots decreases. It was found that the current interruption is a probability process. The probabilities of the current interruption depending on the maximal value of the external pulse magnetic field induction are determined.