View source for PUT 1372 Mechanisms of vacuum arching in high electric field systems

Many applications, utilizing strong RF fields have limited performance, efficiency or lifetime due to vacuum aching, taking place in RF cavities. The vacuum arches are believed to be initiated by spontaneously appearing nanoscale field emitters. However, such emitters are not yet observed experimentally. We propose a study utilizing multiscale computational methods and real time in situ SEM and TEM experiments to understand the mechanisms behind the growth of such field emitters.If the mechanisms of field emitter generation are understood, significant improvement of performance, size and power in future RF devices can be obtained.