BEAMS
In the literature: open
Origin of the steep power-law scaling of breakdown rate
In plain words
The chance of a spark per pulse grows roughly as the 30th power of the field and the 5th power of the pulse length; this empirical rule has no derivation.
Precise statement
Measured breakdown rate per pulse per unit length in conditioned Cu structures follows $\mathrm{BDR} \sim E^{n} \tau_{p}^{m}$ with n approximately 30 and m approximately 5 (CLIC test-stand data), and BDR at fixed field decreases slowly with accumulated pulse number (conditioning). Derive n, m and the conditioning curve from a microscopic model, and state whether the power law persists at BDR below 1e-7 per pulse per meter of structure.
What would settle it
A model whose predicted n, m and conditioning curve match test-stand data at two or more frequencies without refitting.
Related problems
- Special case of Microscopic mechanism that initiates vacuum RF breakdown on copper
- More general than Why conditioning progresses with number of RF pulses, not breakdowns