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Results for “surface breakdown”

Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

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All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2024

Thermal and electric field driven rf breakdown precursor formation on metal surfaces

The phenomenon of electric breakdown poses serious challenges to the design of devices that operate in high electric field environments. Experimental evidence points toward breakdown events that are accompanied by elevated temperatures and dark current spikes, which is attributed to high-asperity nanostructure formation that enhances the local electric field and triggers a runaway process. However, the exact mechanistic origin of such nanostructures under typical macroscopic operational conditions of electric field and magnetic-field-mediated heating remains poorly understood. In this work, we simulate the evolution of a copper surface under the combined action of the electric fields and elevated temperatures. Using a mesoscale curvature-driven surface evolution model, we show how a copper surface can undergo a type of dynamical instability that naturally leads to the formation of sharp asperities in realistic experimental conditions. Exploring the combined effect of fields and temperature rise, we identify the critical regimes that allow for the formation of breakdown precursors. The results show that thermoelastic stresses, while not essential, can significantly lower the critical electric field required for runaway surface instability, which is consistent with experimental observations that thermal effects can increase breakdown rates. Published by the American Physical Society 2024

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗
DOE OSTI2022

Higher Harmonics in Multipactor Induced Plasma Ionization Breakdown near a Dielectric Surface

In this Letter, the novel physics of higher harmonic (HH) generation of the normal electric field near a dielectric surface is reported in multipactor induced plasma ionization breakdown, as determined by kinetic particle-in-cell simulations. The observed HH frequency is around ten times the fundamental rf driving frequency, but lower than the electron plasma frequency. A theory is constructed which indicates that stream plasma interaction-induced instability is the mechanism of HH generation in the collisional regime. The HH frequency and its corresponding growth rate of the HH oscillation amplitude from the theory are in good agreement with kinetic particle-in-cell simulations.

60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2011

Continuum model of surface roughening and epitaxial breakdown during low-temperature Ge(001) molecular beam epitaxy

Numerical simulations based on a discrete model describing step edge motion are used to compute the surface morphological evolution of Ge(001) layers deposited by low-temperature (T{sub s} = 45-230 deg. C) molecular beam epitaxy and to probe the relationship between surface roughening and the onset of epitaxial breakdown - the abrupt growth mode transition from epitaxial to amorphous - at temperature-dependent critical film thicknesses h{sub 1}(T{sub s}). Computed surface widths w and in-plane coherence lengths d as a function of layer thickness h exhibit good agreement with experimental values. Inspired by experimental results indicating that epitaxial breakdown is initiated at facetted interisland trenches as the surface roughness reaches a T{sub s}-independent overall aspect ratio, we show that simulated data for w/d = 0.03 correspond to thicknesses h{sub 1{proportional_to}} exp (-E{sub 1}/kT{sub s}) with E{sub 1} = 0.63 eV, a value equal to the Ge adatom diffusion activation energy on Ge(001). Simulated h{sub 1} values agree well with experimental data. Above a critical growth temperature of 170 deg. C, computed w/d values saturate at large film thicknesses, never reaching the critical aspect ratio w/d = 0.03. Thus, the model also predicts that epitaxial breakdown does not occur for T{sub s} > 170 deg. C as observed experimentally.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2011

Ion Solid Interaction And Surface Modification At RF Breakdown In High-Gradient Linacs

Ion solid interactions have been shown to be an important new mechanism of unipolar arc formation in high-gradient rf linear accelerators through surface self-sputtering by plasma ions, in addition to an intense surface field evaporation. We believe a non-Debye plasma is formed in close vicinity to the surface and strongly affects surface atomic migration via intense bombardment by ions, strong electric field, and high surface temperature. Scanning electron microscope studies of copper surface of an rf cavity were conducted that show craters, arc pits, and both irregular and regular ripple structures with a characteristic length of 2 microns on the surface. Strong field enhancements are characteristic of the edges, corners, and crack systems at surfaces subjected to rf breakdown.

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗
DOE OSTI2024

Formation of field-induced breakdown precursors on metallic electrode surfaces

Understanding the underlying factors responsible for higher-than-anticipated local field enhancements required to trigger vacuum breakdown on pristine metal surfaces is crucial for the development of devices capable of withstanding intense operational fields. In this study, we investigate the behavior of nominally flat copper electrode surfaces exposed to electric fields of hundreds of MV/m. Our novel approach considers curvature-driven diffusion processes to elucidate the formation of sharp breakdown precursors. To do so, we develop a mesoscale finite element model that accounts for driving forces arising from both electrostatic and surface-tension-induced contributions to the free energy. Our findings reveal a dual influence: surface tension tends to mitigate local curvature, while the electric field drives mass transport toward regions of high local field density. This phenomenon can trigger the growth of sharper protrusions, ultimately leading to a rapid enhancement of local fields and, consequently, to a runaway growth instability. We delineate supercritical and subcritical regimes across a range of initial surface roughness. Our numerical results are in qualitative agreement with experimentally reported data, indicating the potential practical relevance of field-driven diffusion in the formation of breakdown precursors.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2018

Gas breakdown in atmospheric pressure microgaps with a surface protrusion on the cathode

Gas breakdown in atmospheric pressure microgaps with a cathode surface protrusion is highly sensitive to the protrusion geometry. The breakdown voltage is identified when the discharge enters the subnormal region, according to voltage-current curves calculated by a two-dimensional fluid model. The effects of the protrusion size and the aspect ratio on the gap breakdown voltage are examined. It is found that the protrusion size can have a more profound effect on the breakdown voltage than the protrusion's aspect ratio. The breakdown voltage versus the protrusion aspect ratio will show a minimum value if the aspect ratio varies in a wider range. Shrinking the size of cathode protrusion can increase the breakdown voltage faster than enlarging the gap distance in the absence of a protrusion in the same scale. As a result, the effect of the aspect ratio of the microgap on the breakdown voltage is also presented.

42 ENGINEERING↗
DOE OSTI2019

Microwave Breakdown of Air Initiated by an Electromagnetic Vibrator Placed on a Dielectric Surface

The feasibility of air breakdown initiation by a quasi-optical subcritical-field microwave beam has been studied experimentally. Breakdown has been initiated by a linear electromagnetic vibrator, which was placed in a traveling electromagnetic wave (i) on the surface of a dielectric sheet that faces wavevector k of the wave, (ii) on the opposite surface of the sheet, and (iii) near the sheet. Fields induced at the ends of the vibrator have been calculated theoretically for all arrangements. Numerical estimates and experimental data have shown that when a vibrator is placed on a dielectric surface, electrical breakdown of air may be initiated in a much deeper subcritical field of the microwave beam than when it is placed in the field of a traveling microwave.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗