Current–Voltage Characteristics of the Initial Stage of Arc Discharge in a High-Voltage Vacuum Diode.

The process of electron instability development and propagation of a cathode electron beam and anomalous ion beam, followed by outburst of current in the initial stage of arc discharge was observed in rarefied plasma cloud of high-voltage vacuum diode. These events are consistent with the model of anomalous ion acceleration in interelectrode plasma at the spark stage of vacuum arc discharge. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]