Mainz 2022 – scientific programme

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P: Fachverband Plasmaphysik

P 10: Invited talks III

P 10.3: Invited Talk

Wednesday, March 30, 2022, 12:00–12:30, P-H11

Optical diagnostics of vacuum arc discharges for switching applications — •Sergey Gortschakow¹, Ralf Methling¹, Steffen Franke¹, Diego Gonzalez¹, Dirk Uhrlandt¹, Sergey Popov², and Alexander Batrakov² — ¹Leibniz institute for plasma science and technology, Greifswald, Germany — ²Institute of high-current electronics, Tomsk, Russia

Optical diagnostics offers numerous methods for characterization of arc plasmas. The contribution presents selected methods used for determination of arc plasma temperature, anode surface temperature and densities of plasma species during the current pulse and after it termination. The vacuum arcs have been investigated under typical switching conditions - ignition by CuCr contact separation during the AC current flow at several kA magnitude. High-speed cinematography is usually used for observation of arc dynamics and characterization of the anode activity. Optical emission spectroscopy can be applied for determination of dynamics of spectral lines from various species during the active phase, as well as for determination of plasma temperature and electron density. For quantitative characterization of the anode surface temperature, NIR spectroscopy and high-speed camera techniques enhanced by narrow-band filters have been used. Broad band absorption spectroscopy is a suitable techniques for determination of the vapour density close to the current zero crossing and in the early post-arc phase. Advantages and drawbacks of each method along with examples of their application will be presented and discussed.