Patent ID: 9514917
Filing Date: 2016-12-06
CPC Classification: H01J,H05H

Claim Text:
1. A method of generating a controlled arc in a component test system, comprising: conditioning a first electrode tip that is bare metal and a second electrode tip that is bare metal to produce a consistent roughness and a consistent surface chemical composition on each of the first electrode tip and the second electrode tip, wherein the conditioning includes repeatedly applying a conditioning arc across an electrode gap delimited by the first electrode tip and the second electrode tip such that a discharge arc across the electrode gap does not significantly alter the roughness of the first electrode tip and the roughness of the second electrode tip, wherein the discharge arc has an energy of about 200 μJ; storing, after the conditioning, stored energy in a capacitor to be discharged across the electrode gap; and discharging, after the storing, an arc with an arc energy across the electrode gap, wherein the discharging includes triggering the arc at a defined time, wherein the triggering contributes less than 10% to the arc energy, and wherein the arc energy is substantially the same as the stored energy.