Electrical breakdown of the space vacuum

Author

Kunhardt, E.E. ; Popovic, S. ; Bentson, J.

Author_Institution

Dept. of Phys. & Eng. Phys., Stevens Inst. of Technol., Hoboken, NJ, USA

Volume

23

Issue

6

fYear

1995

fDate

12/1/1995 12:00:00 AM

Firstpage

970

Lastpage

979

Abstract

The insulating properties of the vacuum of space are examined in this paper. Generic electrode configurations are introduced to calculate the leakage current to the electrodes and the breakdown potential of the “space-vacuum” as a function of altitude above ground. The condition that defines the breakdown threshold is dependent on the size of the sheath, r_L-B, relative to the interelectrode separation, r_c. Results for the leakage currents and breakdown voltage are presented for both cases r_L-B>r_e and r_L-B<r_e, and discussed in the context of space power systems and the SPEAR Program in particular

Keywords

electrodes; leakage currents; plasma sheaths; vacuum breakdown; SPEAR Program; breakdown potential; breakdown threshold; electrical breakdown; generic electrode configurations; insulating properties; leakage current; sheath size; space power systems; space vacuum; Dielectric breakdown; Dielectrics and electrical insulation; Electric breakdown; Electrodes; Gas insulation; Leakage current; Power system modeling; Pulse power systems; Steady-state; Vacuum breakdown;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Plasma Science, IEEE Transactions on

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0093-3813

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/27.476485

Filename

476485