On the Issue of Calculating the Reverse Arc Breakdown Voltage of a High-Voltage Thermionic Diode and Its Maximum Specific Electrical Power

The issues of creating powerful power propulsion systems (PPS) based on a thermionic reactor-converter (TRC) and electric rocket propulsion systems (ERPS) are related to the development of compact high-temperature radiation–resistant current conversion systems (CCS) using plasma electric power devices - grid key elements (GKE) and high-voltage plasma thermionic diodes (HVPTD). The main problem of the development of GCE and HVPTD is the determination of their operating voltage (or reverse arc breakdown voltage in the locked state), which together with the current density in the conductive state characterizes the electric power density of the valve and is its main parameter. Within the framework of this work, the authors, based on the study of the locked state, numerically and analytically obtained new dependences for calculating the reverse arc breakdown voltage and determined the limiting values of the electrical power density of the HVPTD.