Abstract
DURING an investigation of the breakdown mechanism in vacuum, the pre-breakdown currents arising from copper and steel electrodes under alternating voltages were measured. The general form of the apparatus has already been described1. The total current, capacitive plus emission current, was measured by noting the voltage across a resistor of known value in the earth connexion of the low-voltage electrode. Once emission started, certain peaks of the voltage across the resistor increased in magnitude. The value of the emission current was found by subtracting the estimated capacitive current from the total current obtained from these peaks.
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References
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HAWLEY, R. A Characteristic of Electron Emission Curves. Nature 196, 56–57 (1962). https://doi.org/10.1038/196056a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/196056a0
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