A study of nano-scale electrical discharge characteristics for automotive sensor applications

To study the relationship between spark ignition and the gap in the nano-scale region, the electric potential was applied to between a Pt-Ir tip and a gold substrate. The tip was sharpened by electro-chemical etching process in the solution of $CaCl_2;H_2O$ and acetone. The radius of tip was measured to be around 200nm and attached to the scanning probe microscope to control the gap between the tip and the substrate. The electric potential of 10V to 80V was applied to initialize the spark. The gaps and the current profile were measured to analyze the characteristics of spark ignition. A spark sustaining time was measured to be between 50ns and 200ns depending on the applied electric potential and the gap between the electrodes. The continuous electric discharge was successfully sustained up to 1 second of spark or arc time. The developed process can be applicable to the micro-scale fabrication of automotive sensors as a similar concept of GTAW.