Change of electric strength of vacuum insulation after the action of atomic hydrogen on the electrodes

This work presents experimental results on the effect of a flow of atomic hydrogen on the quality of vacuum insulation with electrodes made of stainless steel and copper. Electrodes with the class of roughness 1.6, and electrodes, the surface of which previously was polished by means of the electron beam, were tested on the subject of electric strength. The exposure in the flow of atomic hydrogen was carried out directly before the testing of the electrode pair. Electric strength test was carried out by means of pulses 200 KV in conditions of gradual reduction of the interelectrode gap. Only steel electrodes with the rough surface were insensible to atomic hydrogen flow. In all other cases, there was 15 -20% rising of electric strength after 30-min exposition in atomic flow. Ambiguous influence of atomic hydrogen on the quality of vacuum insulation with different initial state of the surface of electrodes is discussed.