On the variety of triggering mechanisms of high-voltage breakdown in vacuum

The paper is devoted to study of the mechanisms responsible for vacuum breakdown as a whole and the total voltage effect in particular. Experiments at DC and pulsed voltages were carried out. It has been shown that there is no manifestation of the total voltage effect at DC voltages up to 20 kV. The strong dependence of hold-off on anode temperature was recognized at DC voltages while pulsed hold-off turned out to be almost the same with heating the electrodes. This gives a basis to consider gas desorption as an insufficient factor in the initiation of pulsed breakdown. An attempt to enhance hold-off with electrostatic removing of loosely bound particles with assistance of electron flow from a thermionic cathode was undertaken in the work. The approach turned out to be ineffective.