Spontaneous extinguishing of a vacuum arc in terms of the ecton model

Based on the ecton model, a statistical method for studying the processes in the cathode spot of a vacuum arc has been proposed. It has been demonstrated that the spontaneous extinguishing of a DC arc and the effect of "current chopping" inherent in an AC arc are due to the cellular structure of a cathode spot and by the finite lifetime of an ecton. The principal characteristics that are responsible for the stability of the arc operation are the current per cell and the efficiency of the recovery mechanism. The average operative time of the discharge is longer for the materials showing lower currents per cell. The influence of the conditions of arc operation, such as the parameters of the external electric circuit, the cathode surface condition, the presence (or absence) of an external electric field, etc., is reduced in the main to a change in the efficiency of the recovery mechanism.