Performance of a radial vacuum insulator stack

Electrostatic breakdown ("flashover") can limit the maximum delivered power in pulsed power systems. One problematic region is the solid-vacuum interface. The solid/vacuum interface surface is generally the component most likely to suffer undesired breakdown in a well-designed pulsed power system driving a load in vacuum. A relatively small (in total number) and localized amount of neutrals or plasma can be enough to allow a self-sustaining discharge. A discharge along the solid-vacuum interface can readily and quickly desorb ions and neutrals from the insulator material. The spurious discharge can carry almost unlimited current, generally constrained only by the current source or the inductance of the current path.