Evidences of accumulation points: Effect of high voltage DC conditioning on concave electrodes insulated by large vacuum gaps

Abstract

Counterintuitive experimental evidences have been observed during High Voltage Direct Current (HVDC) tests of two concave, axial-symmetric, electrodes insulated by large vacuum gaps of 3 and 7 cm with voltages from 150 to 370 kVdc. The dissipation of microdischarge power during the conditioning procedure occurs mostly on the anodic side in a region close to the axis of the system where the electric field is at a minimum, far from the positions where the breakdowns have been observed. The analyses of the phenomena are carried out by comparing the temporal evolution of voltages, currents, pressure, measurements of x-ray energy spectra, and images from infrared and visible light cameras. Numerical simulations, based on ray-tracing algorithm, correctly identify the positions where the power dissipation of microdischarges occurs. A mutual exchange of charged particles in the electrostatic field between electrodes seems a reasonable physical mechanism to interpret the observations. These findings suggest a new perspective to review the current literature and interpret new results considering geometric details which were so far omitted: the areas with the most intense electric field, typically located on the surfaces of the electrodes under test, are not necessarily the sole surfaces involved in the HVDC conditioning in high vacuum.