Effects of anode evaporation process on the anode sheath characteristics in vacuum arc plasma

Abstract The anode sheath of vacuum arc plasma plays a key role in the generation of anode plasma, but the effects of anode evaporation on the anode sheath remains unclear. In this paper, a theoretical model of a collisional sheath for multi-component plasma coupled with anode evaporation is developed, and the spatial evolution of the anode sheath at different anode surface temperatures is investigated. The results indicate that the distribution of charged particles density and potential in the anode sheath monotonically decreases in the absence or reduction of anode evaporation. When the anode surface temperature exceeds 1900K, a potential hump appears within the sheath. This is due to enhanced anode evaporation increasing the metal vapor density, which intensifies electron impact ionization and charge exchange collisions, resulting in a higher net space charge density. Finally, the effects of various collision reactions and electron temperatures on the potential hump are analyzed. These findings are meaningful for understanding the anode plasma generation mechanism and regulating the anode plasma parameters.