Diagnostic Methods for Switching Vacuum Arcs Based on High-Speed Camera Technique

The contribution presents an insight in the variety of modern optical diagnostic methods based on the use of high-speed cameras (HSCs). Those methods provide the information about the arc dynamics and, in addition, can be used for the analysis of spatiotemporal evolution of species densities, determination of temperature of the arc column plasma, and of the electrode surface temperature. Application examples are given for high-current vacuum arcs, which are characterized by pronounced anode activity (various high-current anode modes). The properties of switching arcs are presented for typical switching conditions, i.e., arc initialization by the separation of CuCr contacts during the ac operation in the current range 1–30 kA.