The ion charge-current strength relationship in stationary and pulsed vacuum discharges

It is shown that the electron temperature in the region where the vacuum-discharge plasma is in equilibrium with the intrinsic magnetic field is proportional to the discharge current I and inversely proportional to the coefficient of erosion of the cathode material. For I greater than or equal to 300 A, this region features additional electron-impact ionization of ions coming from the near-cathode layer. As a result, the average ion charge Z increases with the current strength, the Z(I) dependence being more pronounced at a lower discharge pulse duration. (C) 2001 MAIK "Nauka/Interperiodica".