The dielectric strength of high-voltage vacuum gaps is a critical issue in the development and operation of high-power electrophysical devices. It is well known that the onset of a significant field-emission current from the vacuum gap cathode precedes vacuum breakdown. In this study, we investigate the correlation between the static vacuum breakdown voltage and the cathode's field emission properties. We examined a pure copper cathode with dimensions on the order of tens of micrometers. A series of sequential field-emission current-voltage measurements and vacuum breakdown tests were conducted. Additionally, the field-emission orthodoxy factor was calculated. For different cathode surface states, we obtained sets of local electric field enhancement factors, β, emission orthodoxy factors, and breakdown voltages. Assuming a specific breakdown electric field strength and using the determined β values, we estimated breakdown voltage values and compared these with experimentally measured ones. Our analysis revealed that within a particular range of the field-emission orthodoxy factor, the corresponding β values allowed the estimation of the breakdown voltage with approximately 10 % error. These results suggest that it is possible to develop an approach for predicting static vacuum breakdown voltage based solely on the field emission properties of the cathode.
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