Experimental investigation of emission inhomogeneity of gyrotron cathodes basing on their current-voltage characteristics

A scheme for automatic measurement of current-voltage characteristic of gyroresonance devices has been developed. Efficient emission inhomogeneity of cathode in powerful gyrotrons has been studied basing on analysis of current-voltage characteristics. Experimental data on the parameter of efficient emission inhomogeneity for different regimes are presented, as well as the estimate for admissible efficient inhomogeneity of the cathode for powerful gyrotrons and the dependence of electron beam parameters on efficient inhomogeneity of the cathode. A method of complex measurements is proposed, which makes it possible to judge about the contribution of different physical mechanisms into emission inhomogeneity of the cathode.     

Experimental studies of gyrotron electron beam systems

In order to provide electron beams of powerful gyrotrons, magnetron-injection guns operating in the regime of the temperature limited current are used. The electron beam quality and gyrotron performances are defined both by the cathode emission processes and the processes occurring in the electron beam during its formation and transportation. The results of measurements of the energy spectrum and velocity spread of the gyrotron electron beam in different regimes are given. Experimental data on the parameter of efficient emission inhomogeneity for different regimes are presented, as well as the dependencies of electron beam parameters on efficient inhomogeneity of the cathode     

Field emission of electrons from cathodes made of carbon fibers with a nanostructured emitting surface

Field electron emission from cathodes made of a bunch of carbon fibers under the condition of technical vacuum is studied experimentally. A model to optimize the field emission properties of the cathode by optimizing its macrogeometry with regard to the emitting surface structure is suggested. The current-voltage characteristics of the cathode are taken in the working voltage range 1–3 kV and for anode-cathode spacings varying from 1 to 10 mm. The current density from the cathode may reach 10 A/cm² or more.     

Temperature-dependent electrical properties of organic light-emitting diodes depending on cathodes

We have studied temperature-dependent electrical properties of organic light-emitting diodes with a variation of cathode materials; Al, LiAl, and LiF/Al. The organic light-emitting diodes emit a light by a recombination of injected charge carriers such as holes and electrons. Thus, the charge transport is affected by the injection barrier at the interface. By varying the cathode materials, the electron injection at the interface could be controlled because of the work-function change at the cathode. Temperature-dependent current–voltage luminance characteristics of the organic light-emitting diodes were measured in the temperature range from 10 to 300 K. The current-voltage characteristics were analyzed in terms of Fowler–Nordheim tunneling model, and the energy-barrier height was obtained. A measured lifetime of device with LiF/Al cathode is relatively longer than the other cathodes at room temperature: 4.5 h for Al cathode, 12.4 h for LiAl, and 29.6 h for LiF/Al. The device with LiAl and LiF/Al cathode, in the aspect of lifetime and luminous efficiency, is superior to one of other cathodes.     

Influence of the spot field on field emission from composites

Field emission from composite cathodes made of materials with greatly differing work functions (lanthanum hexaboride-pyrographite and hafnium carbide-pyrographite) and also from homogeneous lanthanum hexaboride cathodes, is studied experimentally. The effective emission from the composite cathodes the constituents of which differ greatly in work function and much worse emission properties of the homogeneous cathode are explained by making allowance for the influence of high (≥2 × 10⁷ V/cm) fields of spots arising at the contact of materials with different work functions on the field emission. The emission current density and the flow of electrons emitted under the action of the spot fields toward the anode are estimated by numerical computation.     

Megawatt, 330 Hz PRF tunable gyrotron experiments

Repetitively pulsed and cw gyrotrons have hitherto used thermionic cathodes, whereas cold cathode gyrotrons have normally operated as single shot devices. The novel results presented here show that cold cathode gyrotrons can be successfully pulsed repetitively. A tunable gyrotron with a pulse repetition frequency (PRF) of 150Hz is demonstrated. This system developed >4MW mm-wave output pulses at 100GHz. The gyrotron is based on a two-electrode configuration comprising a field-immersed, field emission, cold cathode and a shaped anode cavity. A superconducting magnet was used to produce the homogeneous intra-cavity magnetic field and a cable pulser was used to drive the electron beam. This pulser produced up to a (200±20)kV pulse with 10ns rise time, a 100ns flat top, a 10ns decay with a characteristic impedance of 200. The energy storage capacity of the cable pulser was 35J. The charging unit limited the maximum PRF to 330Hz. Due to spark gap switching limitations 330Hz was only obtainable in 5 to 10 pulse bursts. For substantial periods of the order of 30 seconds, 100Hz PRF was achieved over an oscillating range of 28 to 100GHz and 150Hz PRF was achieved at 80GHz. No degradation effects on the mm-wave output pulse was evident due to diode recovery time throughout this series of results. A subsequent conclusion is that the diode recovery time in our cold cathode gyrotron is less than 3ms.     

碳纳米管阴极的强流脉冲发射性能研究

采用丝网印刷和涂敷方法制备了两种碳纳米管阴极，并研究了两种阴极的强流脉冲发射特性，表征了阴极表面碳纳米管的形貌及分布.研究结果表明在脉冲宽度为100 ns、电压为1.64×10⁶ V的脉冲电场下，涂敷法制备阴极的场发射电流最高达5.11 kA，最高发射电流密度达260 A/cm².丝网印刷法制备阴极的场发射稳定性优于涂敷法制备阴极，但其发射电流低.阴极表面发射体的形貌与分布影响了阴极的脉冲发射性能.碳纳米管阴极的脉冲发射机理为爆炸电子发射.碳纳米管阴极可以作为强 关键词： 碳纳米管 阴极 脉冲发射 强电流     

Calculation of the parameters of a high-current reflective discharge with a hot cathode

A physical model of a self-sustaining reflective discharge is formulated based on the continuity equation for the electron flux and the equation of energy balance on the hot cathode. The model allows one to calculate the current-voltage characteristic of a high current reflective discharge with a hot cathode in a wide range of magnetic fields, discharge cell dimensions, and cathode material work functions. An advantage of the model is that it is capable of describing the ordinary operating mode of a reflective discharge with cold cathodes as a limiting case. The model predicts the existence of two discharge operating modes with thermionic electron emission on the cathode: a low-voltage mode with a high current density and a high-voltage mode with a significantly lower current density. It is shown that the low-voltage operating mode can occur in a wide range of the discharge currents, while the discharge voltage can be substantially reduced by using a cathode material with a low work function.     

新型的覆纳米粒子薄膜阴极的研究

采用直流磁控溅射的方法制备出Ir金属纳米粒子薄膜.利用扫描电子显微镜分析了纳米粒子的形态和分布以及不同工艺条件对粒子粒径及形貌的影响,表明纳米粒子的大小可通过调节溅射气体压强来控制.在25%孔度的W海绵基体内浸入6∶1∶2铝酸盐发射物质,然后在其表面沉积上厚度为200—500 nm的纳米粒子薄膜层,最后在H₂气中1200℃烧结,即制成了新型纳米粒子薄膜阴极.利用阴极发射微观均匀性测试仪对纳米粒子薄膜阴极和传统覆膜阴极的热电子发射的均匀性进行了对比研究.采用飞行时间质谱仪测试了真空本底、纳米粒子薄膜阴极、传统覆膜阴极等各种阴极蒸发物的成分,研究了阴极蒸发速率与阴极温度的关系,比较了不同阴极蒸发速率的大小.研究了Ba-W阴极覆上纳米粒子薄膜后的发射特性. 关键词： 纳米粒子薄膜 热阴极 发射均匀性 蒸发     

金属基底对石墨烯薄膜阴极气体击穿稳定性影响

利用石墨烯二维材料极好的场发射能力和发射稳定性,提出了石墨烯阴极提高气体开关击穿稳定性的技术路线。采用化学气相沉积法和基底腐蚀转移法两种方法制备金属基底石墨烯薄膜阴极。利用扫描电子显微镜和拉曼光谱表征了石墨烯薄膜阴极质量,确认了石墨烯层数和均匀性。实验研究了两种石墨烯薄膜阴极气体开关,在微秒脉冲均匀电场作用下的击穿特性,获得了击穿电压幅值和分散性的变化规律。结果表明:当气体为0.6 MPa N2、电极间距为5 mm时,铜基底石墨烯薄膜阴极平均击穿电压为85.9 kV,相对标准差为3.2%;不锈钢基底石墨烯薄膜阴极平均击穿电压仅为59.8 kV,相对标准差为2.4%。当两种阴极击穿电压均为80 kV时,相对标准差比较,不锈钢基底仅为铜基底的44%。分析认为,不锈钢基底石墨烯薄膜质量优于铜基底,石墨烯薄膜导致阴极表面微观场增强因子更高,表面分布更均匀,在电场作用下场致发射产生均匀稳定的大量初始电子流,降低了气体开关击穿电压,有效提高了击穿稳定性。     

碳纳米管和天鹅绒阴极强流发射特性的对比研究

采用电泳沉积法、碳纳米管纸和化学气相沉积直接生长法制备了三种碳纳米管阴极. 从强流发射性能、阴极等离子体膨胀、阴极起动、发射均匀性、工作稳定性以及脉冲放气特性等多个方面, 对比研究了碳纳米管阴极和化纤天鹅绒阴极的强流发射特性, 研究表明碳纳米管阵列和碳纳米管纸阴极发射性能明显优于普通化纤天鹅绒, 碳纳米管阴极发射性能与碳纳米管取向无关, 管壁的缺陷发射对无序碳纳米管阴极强流发射具有重要贡献. 碳纳米管阴极的起动场强约为普通化纤天鹅绒的2/3, 电场上升率相同时碳纳米管阴极比化纤天鹅绒阴极起动时间短12–17 ns. 碳纳米管阴极发射均匀性优于化纤天鹅绒, 尤其是碳纳米管阵列, 整个阴极表面等离子体光斑致密且均匀. 在二极管本底气压为6×10^-3 Pa时, 碳纳米管纸阴极对应的二极管峰值气压不到0.3 Pa, 约为普通化纤天鹅绒阴极的1/5, 碳纳米管阵列阴极放气量在三种阴极中最少, 仅为0.042 Pa. 结果表明, 碳纳米管阴极在强流电子束源和相关高功率微波器件领域具有潜在的应用价值.     

表面形貌对热阴极电子发射特性的影响

为了研究热阴极表面形貌对电子发射能力的影响,使用飞秒激光微纳加工技术在光滑的热阴极表面制备不同尺寸和形状的周期性条纹结构,并使用相同的制备工艺对阴极进行除气和激活.测试结果显示:阴极表面周期性条纹结构可有效增强阴极的电子发射能力,正交双向条纹结构表面阴极的发射电流密度高于单向条纹结构表面阴极的发射电流密度,而且随条纹结构尺寸的降低,阴极的电子发射能力逐渐增强.对阴极表面形貌进行仿真,发现微尖顶端位置在强电场的作用下具有较强的电子发射能力.当阴极表面微尖底部直径与高度比值(r/h)较小时,微尖的侧面仍是阴极电子发射的主要区域,但是随着r/h减小,阴极的电子发射区域逐渐由微尖侧面发射向微尖顶端转移,场助电子发射效应成为阴极电子发射的主要组成部分.     

重复频率爆炸发射阴极现状及展望

重复频率爆炸发射阴极(EEC)是产生高功率重复频率强流电子束的关键。阐述了爆炸发射的尖端场增强和闪络引发机制,分析了影响EEC重复频率运行的因素,综述了EEC研究现状并总结了几种EEC特性,指出实现重复频率发射阴极的方法在于探索新型材料和改进结构。提出采用六硼化镧(LaB6)作为EEC材料和适用于单焦斑多幅闪光照相工业冷阴极二极管(IXD)的新型阴极结构轮辐状金属-铁电陶瓷复合阴极,并对其前景进行展望。     

Explosive cathode gyrotron experiments

Experiments have investigated the behavior of explosive emission cathode gyrotrons using cylindrically symmetric coaxial diodes with centrally located knife-edged cathode and conical anode. Voltage probes and current shunts were exploited to monitor the diode electrical behavior when driven by a 3 μs 1/e time Marx power supply (up to 150 kV). Temporal reference signals permitted comparison of the diode's electrical evolution with the simultaneously measured microwave output signal from the gyrotron. The microwave output pulse duration was found to depend on the diode gap spacing (in the range 16-27 mm), the cavity magnetic field (range 1.3-3.3 T) and the cathode material, the termination being caused by the decay of the accelerating potential across the diode and the disruption of the diode geometry. The ratios of the cathode flare expansion velocities for graphite, copper and stainless steel cathodes were estimated as (1:(1.3±0.2):(2.2±0.5)) with a corresponding change in the duration of the microwave output signal [((590±17):(414±25):(325±10)) ns at 2.6 T]. Preliminary results are reported of recent experiments which have compared the optical emissions from the diode region during pulsed gyrotron operation with the simultaneously recorded diode electrical behavior and the gyrotron microwave output     

电化学刻蚀法制备LaB6场发射微尖锥阵列

采用电化学刻蚀方法,成功制备出单尖的六硼化镧、钼、钨及钨铼合金场发射冷阴极尖锥,并对这几种场发射单尖锥阴极的电子发射性能进行了测试比较.结果表明,LaB₆作为场发射阴极,具有良好的发射性能和稳定性.在〈111〉面单晶LaB₆基片上,用PECVD法沉积非晶硅作掩膜,制备出具有一定高度的LaB₆微尖锥场发射阵列,结果发现,LaB₆基底较为平整,尖锥阵列呈现出各向异性.该结论对LaB₆材料在场发射阴极方面的进一步研究具有重要的指导意义.     

Work function distribution for W-Ir mixed metal matrix cathodes

Mixed metal matrix cathodes have inherent non-uniformity and patchiness of emission due to the presence of two-alloy phase structure on the surface. I-V characteristics of cathode studied in a close spaced diode configuration is one of the easy and cost effective methods to estimate the variation of work function on the cathode surface. Tungsten iridium mixed metal matrix dispenser cathodes of Ø1.4 mm (80 wt.% W-20 wt.% Ir) have been fabricated in the laboratory and their I-V characteristics have been investigated in diode configuration. In this paper the model suggested by Tonnerre et al. has been used to find out the work function distribution of W-Ir cathodes from I-V characteristics. An attempt has been made to correlate the microstructure with the work function values.     

中间层Re的加入对覆膜钡钨阴极性能的改善

研究了一种新型的覆膜钡钨阴极——双层膜(Os-W/Re膜)钡钨阴极.对这种新型阴极的发射性能进行了测试，重点对其老炼前后表面薄膜的微观形貌进行了分析，表明中间层Re膜的加入使覆膜钡钨阴极的性能得到了改善.通过对Os-W双元合金膜钡钨阴极和Os-W/Re双层膜钡钨阴极发射特性的比较，发现Os-W/Re双层膜阴极的直流发射性能好于Os-W合金膜阴极.对两种阴极激活后发射表面的X射线光电子能谱分析表明，Os-W/Re双层膜阴极激活后表面形成的三元合金膜是其发射特性优于Os-W合金膜阴极的主要原因.应用扫描电子显微镜分析比较两种阴极激活老炼后的表面状态，结果表明：Os-W合金膜阴极在老炼一段时间后，其表面薄膜出现开裂，这会导致阴极发射均匀性下降；而Os-W/Re双层膜阴极在同样老炼条件下，发射表面薄膜均匀并保持完整，从而确保覆膜钡钨阴极发射均匀性和工作可靠性. 关键词： 双层膜钡钨阴极 Os-W/Re膜 Os-W膜 薄膜开裂     

用光致荧光研究多碱阴极光电发射机理

本文介绍了多碱光电阴极的特点及其在微光像增强器中的应用,叙述了光致荧光的原理,探索了利用光致荧光方法来研究多碱阴极Na₂KSb膜层电子跃迁几率的方法,并测量了两个不同灵敏度多碱阴极的荧光谱及同一个多碱阴极在工作和非工作两种状态下的荧光谱.测试结果表明,多碱阴极的荧光强度与其电子跃迁的几率及阴极灵敏度成正比,同时多碱阴极在工作状态下,荧光强度比非工作状态下有所降低,原因是一部分跃迁电子逸出多碱阴极产生光电发射,而这部分电子不再回到基态,因此不再发出荧光.另外本文还测量了多碱阴极在不同波长激光激发条件下的荧光谱.结果表明,长波激发与短波激发相比,长波激发所获得的荧光强度更高,这说明长波激发产生跃迁电子的几率高,同时荧光谱峰值波长与激光波长的偏移较小,因此跃迁电子数多且能量损失小,有利于光电发射.将多碱阴极的荧光谱与多碱阴极的量子效率相比较,看出跃迁电子数量和所处能级这两个对光电发射过程有影响的关键因素中,能级因素对光电发射过程的影响更大.但对多碱阴极而言,由于短波激发时的电子跃迁几率低于长波激发时的电子跃迁几率,跃迁电子扩散过程中的能量损失较大,因此短波的量子效率随波长的增加而增加.实践证明,光致荧光是研究多碱阴极光电发射过程的一种有效手段,通过对多碱阴极荧光谱的研究,进一步揭示了多碱阴极的光电发射的机理,为进一步改进工艺和提高多碱阴极的灵敏度提供了重要的参考价值.     

钡钨阴极优化与热电子发射性能

分别从基体和铝酸盐两方面优化了钡钨阴极.在基体方面,首先采用窄粒度钨粉结合放电等离子体烧结获得了孔径分布窄的基体;再利用射频等离子体球化技术制备了球形钨粉,采用球形钨粉制备了多孔基体,获得了孔通道光滑、内孔连通性好、孔径分布更加窄的基体.与窄粒度钨粉基体相比,球形钨粉制备的阴极,空间电荷限制区的斜率由1.25增加至1.37,发射均匀性得到提高,拐点电流密度由6.6 A·cm^–2增至6.96 A·cm^–2.在此基础上,采用液相法改善了铝酸盐物相组成,发现空间电荷限制区的斜率增加至1.44,拐点电流密度增加至21.2 A·cm^–2.通过理论计算对钡钨阴极发射的物理本质进行了研究,发现钡钨阴极发射规律遵循偶极子理论.