Discharges with the electrode homogeneously evaporated in vacuum (DEHEV)

This article presents a brief overview of the research carried out by the author and his colleagues on one of the modern trends in the development of physics, engineering and technological applications of electric discharges. From a variety of intensive stationary electric discharges with a vacuum-evaporated electrode, they exclude only a well-studied vacuum arc with local (inhomogeneous) evaporation in cathode and anode spots. It is shown that the theories of classical low pressure electric discharges form the foundation for DEHEV physics. The presence of an evaporated electrode in a discharge gap greatly complicates these theories and causes new physical effects, so that it becomes impossible to make exact calculations of practical construction and their technological parameters. Thus, primary attention is focused on the construction of physical discharge models and the analysis of the experimental results.