Speaker
Description
The Large Electrode System (LES) is a vacuum high-voltage experimental setup consisting of an anode and cathode separated using a ceramic spacer. By applying a dc high-voltage, numerous aspects of breakdown including field emission, location, conditioning, ultimate gradient and statistics can be studied. The system can operate in a voltage range up to 7000 V, pulse lengths from 1 $\mu$s to 1000 $\mu$s and repetition rates up to 2000 Hz, as well as static dc signals. Not only does the system monitor the applied voltage, current drawn by the electrodes and the pressure, but window openings on the side of the chamber enables breakdown localization and field spectra investigation. Recent results obtained using the system are described including the latest conditioing results, including additively manufactured electrodes and irradiated electrodes. Optical field taken during breakdown or constant field emission are also presented.
