In this paper, the influence of contact materials on late discharges in vac
uum switching devices was investigated. Experimental results show that the
HV withstand capability of contact materials has a strong influence on the
frequency of late discharges in vacuum switching devices. The addition of a
small amount of W and Co into the CuCr alloy increases the voltage withsta
nd significantly, resulting in a reduction of the frequency of late dischar
ges by as much as 50%. Therefore, an efficient approach to decrease the fre
quency of late discharges is to increase the Hv withstand of the contact ma
terials.