Microcrystalline and nanocrystalline Cu/Cr pseudo-alloy electrodes were prepared from elemental powders using high-energy ball milling and spark plasma sintering, and were characterized by SEM, TEM, EDS, and AFM. Vacuum discharge tests were conducted in order to reveal how the microstructure influences the material resistance to surface damage by vacuum electric sparks and arcs. Numerous micro-craters with morphologies typical for explosive electron emission appeared on the surface of the microcrystalline cathode, while the surface of nanocrystalline cathode remained undamaged. At the same time, vacuum discharge caused Cu to melt on the anode surface for both types of microstructure, and vacuum arc melts Cu and Cr independent of the microstructure and electrode polarity. Thus, a decrease of the Cr grain size may prevent cathode material damage by explosive electron emission (probably due to electron scattering on the grain boundaries), and only slightly influences the resistance of electrodes against arcing or high-energy electron bombardment. These results can be used in development of new electrodes for vacuum interrupters, cathodes of vacuum diodes and other equipment that involve vacuum discharges.

采用高能球磨和火花等离子体烧结法，由元素粉末制备了微晶和纳米晶Cu / Cr假合金电极，并通过SEM，TEM，EDS和AFM对其进行了表征。进行了真空放电测试，以揭示微观结构如何影响材料抵抗由真空电火花和电弧引起的表面破坏的能力。在微晶阴极的表面上出现了许多具有典型爆炸性电子发射形态的微弹坑，而纳米晶阴极的表面则保持完好无损。同时，对于两种类型的微观结构，真空放电都会导致Cu在阳极表面熔化，而真空电弧熔化的Cu和Cr则与微观结构和电极极性无关。因此，Cr晶粒尺寸的减小可以防止爆炸性电子发射（可能是由于晶界上的电子散射）而损坏阴极材料，并且仅轻微影响电极的抗电弧或高能电子轰击的能力。这些结果可用于开发用于真空灭弧室的新电极，真空二极管的阴极以及其他涉及真空放电的设备。