Experimental study on the effect of applying a crossed electric field on the breakdown behavior of low vacuum

The paper presents experimental results on the effect of applying a transverse electric field on the breakdown behavior of low vacuum. The results show that the breakdown voltage BDV increases as the transverse voltage TV increases. But on the other hand the leakage current decreases as TV increases. The increase in BDV of the main gap MG is large for AC TV rather than under DC TV. The effect of TV on the breakdown characteristics shows dependence on the separation of MG and the transverse gap as well as the type of applied TV, and the air pressure of vacuum gap. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.