Effect of electrode surface roughness on breakdown conditioning process under non-uniform electric field in vacuum

Abstract

Breakdown (BD) characteristics in vacuum are largely dependent on the electrode surface conditions, like the roughness etc. Therefore, in order to develop high voltage vacuum circuit breakers, the research how the electrode surface roughness affects the BD characteristics is important. This paper discussed the influence of the electrode surface roughness on ED conditioning process under non-uniform electric field in vacuum. Experimental results revealed that the difference of electrode surface roughness affected the BD region, the BD voltage, and the BD field strength, as well as the conditioning process.