Questions & Answers


Talk by Adam Boyarski

	Questions & Answers

Comment (F. Sauli): The term "Malter" should be reserved to electron emission from cathodes induced by thin insulating layers. Question: Did you see whisker on cathodes? Most (all) observations of wiskers are on anodes.

A (A. B.): Yes, the whiskers shown were on the cathodes. As for the "Malter" comment, the test chamber showed the Malter property, namely a high sudden current jump that remained when the source was removed until the HV was lowered. Later examination showed the cathode whiskers. Should this now be called something else? I do not know. Perhaps all Malter cases that are observed are due to whiskers on cathodes (maybe small, unobserved whiskers).

Q (G. Bohm): Is there an explanation for the observation, that the combination of 0₂ with H₂0 did not give the expected combined benefits? Could there be a reaction, e.g. to H₂0₂?

A (A. B.): No explanation, but it appears that water slows down the reaction, both in the aging process itself and in the curing process. Perhaps related to suppression of combustion of some carbon material by water vapor.

Q (V. Pantuyev):
1) For how long can you "cure" with 0₂?

2) What about a long-term exposure with H₂0?

A (A. B.):
1) So far only the short-term has been done. Running with 0₂ for ~3 days was stable at the highest currents.

2) My measurements with 0₂ were short-term. There is another on-going test by Lu from Princeton to measure long term with H₂0.

Q (B. Schmidt): You showed an ⁵⁵Fe spectrum for your He/i-C₄H₁₀ mixture. I was puzzled by the existence of an escape peak. How do you interpret this?

A (A. B.): No exact explanation, except there must be some metastable state in the gas molecules (He or isobutane).