Ecton (physics)

Ectonen are the smallest at the end of a micro- explosions arc evaporation. At each Ecton a plurality of particles are liberated, electrons, ions, atoms, and clusters liquid.

The Ecton model was introduced in 1990 by the Russian physicist Gennady Mesyats. The term " Ecton " is an artificially created word. The first two letters stand for the English explosive center and the suffix- ton is an indication of the particle nature of this phenomenon.

The model explains why the properties of the released ions over a wide range of macroscopic current densities depend little on the current density.

Operations

The evaporation of the cathode does not run continuously, but due to thermal instability in the form of a fractal hierarchical ever smaller micro explosions, whose smallest units are Ectonen. Ectonen go out of local peaks and left funnel-shaped crater. Because of the frequent repetition of this operation, a type of craters formed on the cathode surface.

A Ecton has a size of about one micron and a lifetime of about 10 ns at an emission of about 1011 electrons ( depending on material). In this short time, the cathode material is from the solid state into a plasma, owing to the critical pressure more than a phase transition → liquid gas does not occur.