Physical vapor deposition techniques such vacuum arc plasma deposition — which are very commonly used in thin film technology — appear to hold much promise for the synthesis of nanocrystalline thin films as well as nanoparticles. Monodisperse and spherical titanium oxide (TiO2) and nitride nanoparticles were produced at room temperature as a cluster beam in the gas phase using a cluster-deposition source. Using the basic principles of the gas condensation method, this study has developed vacuum arc nanoparticle synthesis system. We demonstrate that major process deposition parameter is the pressure in the plasma chamber. This is the major advantage of these techniques over thermal evaporation. Our method affords TiN powders with high specific surface areas exceeding 200[Formula: see text]m2[Formula: see text]g[Formula: see text]. TEM micrograph of TiO2 nanoparticles prepared at an oxygen pressure of 60[Formula: see text]Pa show an average particle size of 6[Formula: see text]nm. TiO2 nanoparticles prepared at an oxygen pressure of 70[Formula: see text]Pa were observed to not have a reduced average particle size.

The laws governing the formation of residual stresses in copper oxide nanoparticles in the process of their direct plasma-chemical synthesis in a low-pressure arc discharge plasma are studied. Correlation dependences of the residual stress and the magnetization of nanoparticles on the pressure of the gas mixture of 10% O 2 + 90% Ar are presented. The problems associated with the bifurcation of the magnetization curves during cooling in zero (ZFC) and non-zero (FC) magnetic field, non-equilibrium behavior, relaxation of magnetization and magnetic viscosity of the obtained CuO nanoparticles are discussed.

The influence of CuO nanoscale inclusions as the second component of the composites on the transport properties of superconducting polycrystals YBa 2 Cu 3 O 7 was studied. Samples of YBa 2 Cu 3 O 7-δ with different content of CuO nanoparticles were synthesized. The analysis of magnetic properties was carried out within the framework of the extended critical state model. It was found that the addition of 20 wt.% CuO nanoparticles leads to an increase in the critical current density at T = 77 K. A further increase to 30 wt.% reduces the critical current density. The results of the experimental studies of a switching superconducting fault current limiter in AC voltage networks based on high-temperature superconductors (HTSC) of the 2 nd generation are given in this work. The testing equipment contains a series-connected HTSC module and a highspeed current switch with a break time of 9 ms. The high efficiency of the samples made from the YBa 2 Cu 3 O 7-δ + CuO nanocomposite material as an active element of a resistive current limiter is shown.

A model of ionization processes in a low-temperature plasma within the cathode region of a vacuum arc is presented. This mathematical model is represented by a system of nonlinear differential equations of drift-diffusion for the electron density and the average energy of second-order electrons. The system of equations was solved by the finite element method in two coordinates in numerical form using the COMSOL Multiphysics software program. It was shown that due to nonequilibrium processes, Langmuir waves appeared at the plasma boundary, which leads to multistage ionization of metal vapor. The arc discharge was presented in the form of a cylindrical plasma column with a length of 200 μm and a diameter of 50 μm. At the interface between the cathode and the plasma column, a double electric layer has appeared which holds hot electrons in the central zone of the discharge. High specific power was focused close to the cathode surface, which provided the continuous supply of metal vapor. The numerical results of the model have appeared to be in good agreement with the experimental data.