meemoe_uk2 wrote: Have you tried out copper versions of this single jagged cylinder cathode yet?
I suspect the arcs would unsportingly favour some points to arc from much more than others.
If you mean a single cathode base made out of copper including the sawtooth, but not including the cathode rods: Yes this has been tried. The current configuration, as far as I know, is a tungsten base including the sawtooth, but with copper cathode rods being screwed on.
The problem, as far as I understand Eric, is the impurity induced be the small gap that happens when elements are screwed together, or actually the increased resistance. That’s why they’re looking now into a 3D-manufactured tungsten version of the whole cathode, as it’s hard to machine.
Oh yes, and it needs to be tungsten, otherwise the sawtooth will evaporate away too quickly. Copper has been tried here before.
Small giveaway: I’ve redesinged the DPF so that this gap between cathode base and cathode rods isn’t an obstacle anymore, in a way that filaments do not cross the cathode base anymore. Let’s see how Eric likes it.