Influence of electrode material on high-voltage vaccum breakdown

The question of which electrode in a two-electrode system, the anode or the cathode, contributes most to the primary voltage breakdown mechanism, and the reasons for this contribution, has been the subject of wide debate among workers in the field. Theories of breakdown have been proposed by Cranberg, Alpert et al, Slivkov, Utsumi and Dalman, and others which involve the anode or the cathode or both to varying extent. Recent data collected by Watson, Mulcahy, and Bells and by Kranjec and Ruby, when subjected to analysis, indicate a role of the anode material in the breakdown process sufficiently clear to be applied in high-voltage vacuum tube construction. Both the analysis and data collected by Taylor and Chrepta indicate that heating of the anode owing to the flow of field emission is a primary cause of breakdown at spacings of interest in vacuum tube technology.