Wide-aperture plasma jet source based on low-voltage spark discharge with ferroelectric electrode

Low-voltage vacuum spark discharge initiated at a storage capacitor voltage of 75–600 V using a metal grid cathode situated on the front surface of a polarized ferroelectric (FE) electrode has been experimentally studied. The discharge was initiated when a control voltage pulse with an amplitude of 1 kV and a duration of 100 ns at only negative polarity was applied to the rear FE surface (irrespective of the direction of its polarization vector). Optical measurements showed that the emitting surface area on the cathode increases approximately in proportion to the discharge voltage. According to the collector measurements, the ion plasma flux has slow and fast components, the velocities of which remain almost constant when the discharge current amplitude varies in a wide interval.