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4158-6009-TU-000
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TECHNICAL REPORT

HIGH VOLTAGE BREAKDOWN INITIATED BY PARTICLE IMPACT

N65
I

(ACCESSION

April 1965

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NUMBER)

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Prepared for
National Aeronautics and Space Administration
Washington, D. C. 20546
Contract N o . NASw-936

Prepared by

Approved by

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PHYSICAL ELEXTRONICS LABORATORY

Physical Research D i v i s i o n

rRW Space Technology Laboratories

Thompson R a m 0 Wooldridge Inc
Space Park, Redondo Beach, C a l i f o r n i a

OTS PRICE(S) $

Hard copy (HC)

Microfiche (MF)

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23

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HIGH VOLTAGE BREAKDOWN INITIATED BY PARTICLE IMPACT*

J. C. S l a t t e r y , J. F. F r i i c h t e n i c h t and D. 0 . Hansen
T R W Space Technology L a b o r a t o r i e s , Redondo Beach, C a l i f o r n i a

This l e t t e r d e s c r i b e s t h e t e c h n i q u e s employed and r e p o r t s res u l t s of e x p l o r a t o r y experiments on t h e p a r t i c l e i n i t i a t e d h i g h

The assumption is
v o l t a g e breakdown h y p o t h e s i s due t o Cranberg!.
made t h a t s m a l l p a r t i c l e s a r e t o r n from an e l e c t r o d e by e l e c t r i c a l

stress and a r e a c c e l e r a t e d a c r o s s t h e gap. Upon impact a t t h e

o p p o s i t e electrode, g a s and metal vapor a r e evolved from t h e s u r f a c e , c r e a t i n g l o c a l c o n d i t i o n s conducive t o t h e i n i t i a t i o n of a
d i s c h a r g e between t h e e l e c t r o d e s , No a t t e m p t is made t o e x p l a i n
t h e mechanism of p a r t i c l e formation nor t o j u s t i f y t h e e x i s t e n c e
of s u c h p a r t i c l e s on fundamental grounds. However, an a n a l y s i s
2
by S l i v k o v a p p l i e s c o n s t r a i n t s on p a r t i c l e s i z e . The upper l i m i t
is e s t a b l i s h e d by r e q u i r i n g t h a t t h e k i n e t i c energy of t h e p a r t i c l e
be s u f f i c i e n t t o v a p o r i z e i t s own mass. The lower l i m i t is est a b l i s h e d by r e q u i r i n g t h a t the g a s c l o u d be l a r g e enough t o perm i t charge m u l t i p l i c a t i o n while s i m u l t a n e o u s l y s a t i s f y i n g t h e
c o n d i t i o n s a t t h e Paschen minimum.
3
Y a i t l a n d h a s compiled d a t a from a number of e x p e r i m e n t e r s
and f i n d s t h a t t h e r e s u l t s a r e compatible w i t h t h e p a r t i c l e h i Rozanova4 h a s shown c o n c l u s i v e l y t h a t
t i a t e d breakdown concept
p a r t i c l e impacts are c a p a b l e of i n i t i a t i n g d i s c h a r g e by p l a c i n g
l o o s e l y bound p a r t i c l e s on t h e s u r f a c e of c o n d i t i o n e d electrodes.
e

A p p l i c a t i o n of p u l s e d v o l t a g e s r e s u l t e d i n breakdown a t t r i b u t e d

t o t h e p a r t i c l e impacts. R e s u l t s of work in our l a b o r a t o r y on t h e

e f f e c t s of micrometeoroid bombardment of i o n e n g i n e s 5 s u g g e s t e d a
s i m i l a r mechanism. T h i s l e d t o t h e experiments d e s c r i b e d below,

*This

work s u p p o r t e d by t h e NASA under C o n t r a c t No. NASw-936.

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I n t h e s e experiments, p a r t i c l e s of known mass and energy a r e

i n j e c t e d through an a p e r t u r e i n one e l e c t r o d e of a plane p a r a l l e l
electrode c o n f i g u r a t i o n . The p a r t i c l e p a r a m e t e r s a r e completely
independent of e l e c t r o d e spacing and v o l t a g e s and t h e experiments
a r e p r i m a r i l y concerned w i t h t h e i n v e s t i g a t i o n of t h e e f f e c t s of
v o l t a g e s and e l e c t r i c f i e l d s on t h e developing d i s c h a r g e . The exp e r i m e n t s provide no i n f o r m a t i o n on t h e mechanism of p a r t i c l e
f o r m a t i o n r e q u i r e d f o r t h e Cranberg h y p o t h e s i s . However, t h e
p a r a m e t e r s of p a r t i c l e s r e q u i r e d t o i n i t i a t e d i s c h a r g e can be
determined and compared t o what might be a n t i c i p a t e d i n an a c t u a l
case
The STL e l e c t r o s t a t i c h y p e r v e l o c i t y a c c e l e r a t o r ' was used a s
a s o u r c e of p a r t i c l e s .
I n t h i s d e v i c e , s m a l l i r o n p a r t i c l e s are
charged by a p r o c e s s d e s c r i b e d elsewhere7 and a r e i n j e c t e d i n t o
t h e a c c e l e r a t i n g f i e l d of a 2 - m i l l i o n v o l t Van de Graaff generator.
The p a r t i c l e mass and energy a r e determined p r i o r t o i m p a c t by t e c h n i q u e s d e s c r i b e d i n Ref. 7.

A diagram of t h e experimental c o n f i g u r a t i o n is shown i n

P i g . 1. P a r t i c l e s from t h e a c c e l e r a t o r p a s s t h r o u g h a d e t e c t o r
used f o r t h e measurement of p a r t i c l e mass and v e l o c i t y . Most of
them p a s s through a 0.75 mm diameter d e f i n i n g a p e r t u r e which is
a l i g n e d w i t h a 1 mm a p e r t u r e i n t h e ground e l e c t r o d e . F i n a l l y ,
t h e p a r t i c l e s impact upon t h e high v o l t a g e e l e c t r o d e . Another
p a r t i c l e d e t e c t o r is i n t e r p o s e d between t h e t w o a p e r t u r e s and s e r v e s
t o i d e n t i f y which of t h e p a r t i c l e s p a s s i n g through t h e main detector eventually s t r i k e the t a r g e t . In p r a c t i c e , s l i g h t m i s alignment r e s u l t s i n l e s s t h a n 100 p e r c e n t t r a n s m i s s i o n through
b o t h a p e r t u r e s . For each s e t of c o n d i t i o n s , t h e t r a n s m i s s i o n was
determined and t h e observed frequency of d i s c h a r g e was weighted
accordingly
Both of t h e e l e c t r o d e s were made of p o l i s h e d s t a i n l e s s s t e e l ,
The ground plane was i n t h e form Qf t r u n c a t e d c y l i n d e r about 3.8 c m
i n d i a m e t e r . The high v o l t a g e e l e c t r o d e was machined t o a Rogowski8

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s u r f a c e having a f l a t c e n t e r p o r t i o n of
an o v e r a l l d i a m e t e r of 2.5 c m . The gap
a d j u s t a b l e over a r e l a t i v e l y wide range
t o t h e e l e c t r o d e , However, no v o l t a g e s

about 1 c m d i a m e t e r and
between e l e c t r o d e s was
a s was t h e v o l t a g e a p p l i e d
exceeding p o s i t i v e or

n e g a t i v e 30 k i l o v o l t s were used.

The e l e c t r i c f i e l d l i n e s a t t h e impact p o i n t a r e somewhat

d i s t o r t e d by t h e presence of t h e a p e r t u r e i n t h e ground plane.
To reduce t h i s , t h e electrodes were i n c l i n e d by 45' t o t h e p a r t i c l e
beam. The e f f e c t s of d i s t o r t i o n have n o t been e v a l u a t e d completely,
b u t it is assumed t h a t t h e d i s c h a r g e o c c u r s between t h e impact
p o i n t and a smooth p o r t i o n of t h e ground p l a n e . D i s c h a r g e s were
s e n s e d by o b s e r v i n g t h e v o l t a g e developed a c r o s s a 0.1 ohm resistor i n t e r p o s e d between t h e ground plane and t r u e e l e c t r i c a l
ground.
R e s u l t s o b t a i n e d under t y p i c a l c o n d i t i o n s a r e shown i n F i g .
2.
The x ' s denote t h e parameters of p a r t i c l e s which i n i t i a t e d
d i s c h a r g e w h i l e t h e p o i n t s r e p r e s e n t p a r t i c l e s t h a t d i d n o t . For
t h e c a s e i l l u s t r a t e d , a 15 kv p o s i t i v e v o l t a g e was a p p l i e d t o t h e
alectrode zrnd the g a p was 0.5 mn. The p r o b a b i l i t y of d i s c h a r g e i s
e v i d e n t l y much g r e a t e r f o r p a r t i c l e s w i t h e n e r g i e s and r a d i i i n
e x c e s s of about 0 . 8 x lom7 j o u l e s and 0.9 microns, r e s p e c t i v e l y .
The r e l a t i v e l y s h a r p t h r e s h o l d between d i s c h a r g e and no d i s c h a r g e
is e x h i b i t e d f o r a l l v o l t a g e s and f i e l d s used, This d e f i n e s a
lower l i m i t i n p a r t i c l e energy ( o r s i z e ) below which d i s c h a r g e i s
n o t i n i t i a t e d . No upper l i m i t s were observed, rH"hus S l i v k o v * s
p r e d i c t i o n of p a r t i c l e s i z e l i m i t s is only p a r t i a l l y v e r i f i e d by
these experiments. However, t h e requirement imposed by S l i v k o v
t h a t t h e p a r t i c l e p o s s e s s e s enough k i n e t i c energy t o v a p o r i z e its
own mass is a n o v e r s i m p l i f i c a t i o n of t h e c a s e . P a r t i a l v a g o r i z a t i o n of a l a r g e p a r t i c l e would r e l e a s e more g a s t h a n complete
v a p o r i z a t i o n of a s m a l l one.

The f r a c t i o n of p a r t i c l e m a t e r i a l

v a p o r i z e d is a s t r o n g f u n c t i o n of v e l o c i t y , 9 but S l i v k o v does n o t
c o n s i d e r t h i s a s p e c t . A r e v i s i o n of S l i v k o v ' s c r i t e r i a t o i n c l u d e

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3 x lo-

i/

2 x lo-

-7

1 x lo-

/
x
c

2
3
4
PARTICLE VELOCITY (KM/SEC)

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Page 7

v e l o c i t y e f f e c t s may be i n o r d e r .
The t h r e s h o l d s i n p a r t i c l e energy and size r e q u i r e d t o i n i -

t i a t e breakdown s h i f t w i t h v o l t a g e and e l e c t r i c f i e l d .
Smaller,
l e s s e n e r g e t i c p a r t i c l e s are capable of i n i t i a t i n g d i s c h a r g e s f o r
h i g h e r v o l t a g e s and f i e l d s .
Insufficient data are available t o
t i e f i n e t h e v o l t a g e and f i e l d dependence b u t it a p p e a r s t h a t t h e
e l e c t r i c f i e l d is a more c r i t i c a l f a c t o r . This a g a i n is i n
g e n e r a l agreement w i t h Slivkov. He i m p l i e s t h a t charge m u l t i p l i c a t i o n with t h e expanding gas c l o u d is dependent upon t h e
p o t e n t i a l d i f f e r e n c e a c r o s s t h e c l o u d . For a c l o u d w i t h dimensions
s m a l l e r t h a n t h e gap s p a c i n g , t h e t o t a l v o l t a g e a c r o s s t h e c l o u d
is determined by t h e v o l t a g e g r a d i e n t .
The p a r a m e t e r s of p a r t i c l e s charged and a c c e l e r a t e d under

c o n d i t i o n s s u g g e s t e d by Cranberg and Slivkov c a n be computed and

compared t o t h e p a r a m e t e r s of p a r t i c l e s used h e r e . Assuming
s p h e r i c a l i r o n p a r t i c l e s , 8 charging mechanism s i m i l a r t o t h a t
d e s c r i b e d i n Ref. 7 , and c o n d i t i o n s i d e n t i c a l t o t h o s e used in
o b t a i n i n g t h e results g i v e n i n F i g , 2> a 30 micron r a d i u s p a r t i c l e

Y Q G I ~he required t o a t t a i n the t h r e s h o l d energy shown i n P i g . 2.

T h i s is obviously t o o l a r g e t o be compatible with t h e CranbergS l i v k o v f o r m u l a t i o n . However, t h e p a r t i c l e impact h y p o t h e s i s is
n o t d i r e c t l y a p p l i c a b l e a t t h e v o l t a g e s and f i e l d s used h e m .
It
is i n t e r e s t i n g Lo n o t e t h a t t h e e s t i m a t e i n p a r t i c l e s i z e i s comp a t i b l e with t h e e x p e r i m e n t a l o b s e r v a t i o n s of Rozanova.
A d e f i n i t e dependence on t h e p o l a r i t y of t h e a p p l i e d v o l t a g e

was observed.
S i g n i f i c a n t l y less e n e r g e t i c p a r t i c l e s a r e required
t o i n i t i a t e d i s c h a r g e when t h e p a r t i c l e impacts on t h e cathode.
For example, v i r t u a l l y a l l of t h e p a r t i c l e s shown i n Fig. 2 would
have i n i t i a t e d d i s c h a r g e if t h e p o l a r i t y had been r e v e r s e d .
In summary, t h e experiments d e s c r i b e d above provide q u a n t i t a t i v e i n f o r m a t i o n on t h e p a r t i c l e i n i t i a t e d v o l t a g e breakdown
h y p o t h e s i s . The e x i s t e n c e of a l o w energy l i m i t f o r p a r t i c l e s
c a p a b l e of i n i t i a t i n g d i s c h a r g e h a s been v e r i f i e d and measured.

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A d e f i n i t e p o l a r i t y dependence was n o t e d and t h e e f f e c t s of

a p p l i e d v o l t a g e and e l e c t r i c f i e l d were observed q u a l i t a t i v e l y .

Although t h e v a l i d i t y of t h e Cranberg h y p o t h e s i s cannot be v e r i f i e d d i r e c t l y by these experiments, e x t e n s i o n of t h e measurements
t o higher v o l t a g e s and f i e l d s would e n a b l e one t o d e f i n e t h e
p a r a m e t e r s of p a r t i c l e s r e q u i r e d t o i n i t i a t e breakdown under
c o n d i t i o n s where t h e p a r t i c l e impact h y p o t h e s i s is presumed t o be
v a l i d . E v a l u a t i o n of p a r t i c l e f o r m a t i o n mechanisms i n l i g h t of
these r e s u l t s could be i n s t r u m e n t a l i n t e s t i n g t h e v a l i d i t y of t h e
Cra nbe r g breakdown hypot he s is.

vw

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c

Page 9

REFERENCES

1.

L. Cranberg, J . Appl. Phys., 23, 518 (1952).

2.

I. N.

3.

A Maitland, J. Appl. Phys., 32, 2399 (1961).

4.

N. B. Rozanova, Izv. AN SSSR, Ser. Fiz., Trans. B u l l e t i n 26,

Slivkov, S o v i e t Phys., Tech. Phys. 2, 1928 (1957).

1462 (1962).
5.

J. C. S l a t t e r y , F i n a l Report, NASA C o n t r a c t No. NAS3-3569,

NASA CR-54057, June, 1964.

6.

J. F. F r i i c h t e n i c h t , Rev. of Sci. I n s t r . 33, 209 (1962).

7.

H. S h e l t o n , C. D. Hendricks, Jr., and R. F. Wuerker, J. Apple

Phys.,

8.

31,

1243 (1960).

J. D. Cobine
(1941).

, "Gaseous

Conductors", McGraw-Hill,

p. 177,