Plasma localization in an extended hollow cathode of the plasma source of a ribbon electron beam

The plasma density distributions in the slit aperture of the extended rectangular hollow cathode of the source of a ribbon electron beam are investigated experimentally. It is found that a local maximum whose parameters are determined by the discharge current appears in the density distribution when the slot width is less than a certain threshold value. This maximum results in an inhomogeneous current density distribution in the beam. It is shown that the appearance of the local maximum in the plasma density is related to the overlapping of the ion sheaths in the slit aperture of the hollow cathode.     

Generation of a submillisecond electron beam with a high-density current in a plasma-emitter diode under the conditions of open plasma boundary emission

The generation of a 250-μs-wide electron beam in a plasma-emitter diode is studied experimentally. A plasma was produced by a pulsed arc discharge in hydrogen. The electron beam is extracted from a circular emission hole 3.8 mm in diameter under open plasma boundary conditions. The beam accelerated in the diode gap enters into a drift space in the absence of an external magnetic field through a hole 4.1 mm in diameter made in the anode. The influence of electron current deposition at the edge of the anode hole on the beam’s maximum attainable current, above which the diode gap breaks down, is studied for different accelerating voltages and diode gaps. The role of processes occurring on the surface of the electrodes is shown. For an accelerating voltage of 32 kV, a mean emission current density of 130 A/cm² is achieved. The respective mean strength of the electric field in the acceleration gap is 140 kV/cm. Using the POISSON-2 software package, the numerical simulation of the diode performance is carried out and the shape of steady plasma emission boundaries in the cathode and anode holes is calculated. The influence of the density of the ion current from the anode plasma surface on the maximum attainable current of the electron beam is demonstrated.     

Time-and-space resolved measurements of the emission uniformity of carbon fibre cathode in high-current pulsed discharge

The remaining challenges, confronting high-power microwave (HPM) sources and pulsed power generators, stimulate the developments of robust relativistic electron beam sources. This paper presents a carbon fibre cathode which is tested in a single pulsed power generator. The distribution and the development of cathode plasma are observed by time-and-space resolved diagnostics, and the uniformity of electron beam density is checked by taking x-ray images. A quasistationary behaviour of cathode plasma expansion is observed. It is found that the uniformity of the extracted electron beam is satisfactory in spite of individual plasma jets on the cathode surface. These results show that carbon fibre cathodes can provide a positive prospect for developing a high-quality electron beam.     

无箔二极管强流电子束空间密度分布初步研究

通过在强磁场条件下,利用环形刀口石墨阴极(刀口尺寸38~39mm)开展电子束轰击收集极内表面铜箔和垂直轰击金属靶片实验,对无箔二极管中电子束的空间密度分布进行了初步研究,并对其产生原因进行了分析。研究结果表明,电子束径向分布在37.2~40.2mm,存在密度较高区域(38.8~39.4mm)和密度最大值点(39.2mm),且均偏向于阴极外侧。无箔二极管环形阴极爆炸发射产生电子束的径向密度分布可用偏态分布近似。     

微腔等离子体放电过程的数值研究

采用2维自洽完全流体模型,数值研究了阳极为通孔的高气压微腔放电结构中等离子体参数的变化过程。模拟结果获得了当氩气压强为13.3 kPa时,放电中的电势分布、等离子体密度分布、径向电场分布和电子温度分布等重要参数的演化过程。模拟结果表明在放电过程中,阴极附近的电场由轴向电场逐步转变为径向电场,等离子体密度最大值位于放电腔中间处,并随时间推移由阳极附近向阴极附近移动,电子温度的最大值出现在阴极环形鞘层区域。     

Localization of plasma in the extended hollow cathode of a ribbon-electron-beam plasma source at forevacuum pressures

The results of a study of the plasma density distribution in the slit aperture of a right-angled extended hollow cathode used in a ribbon-electron-beam plasma source operating at forevacuum pressures (1–10 Pa) are presented. It is shown that a local peak of plasma density appears in some region of the slit aperture as the slit width is decreased. This results in the appearance of a region of increased current density when the ribbon beam forms. The uniformity of the beam current density distribution is additionally disturbed by the reverse ion flow whose effect on the emission properties of the plasma is significant in the region of elevated pressure. A model which describes the development of plasma density nonuniformity in a hollow cathode is proposed which is based on the idea that the electron current flows predominantly through the slit aperture regions that are associated with local openings of the cathode layer ion sheaths. __________ Translated from Izvestiya Vysshikh Uchebnykh Zavedenii, Fizika, No. 6, pp. 3–9, June, 2007.     

Generation of a pulsed high-current low-energy beam in a plasma electron source with a self-heated cathode

The transition of a low-current discharge with a self-heated hollow cathode to a high-current discharge is studied, and stability conditions for the latter in the pulsed–periodic mode with a current of 0.1–1.0 kA, pulse width of 0.1–1.0 ms, and a pulse repetition rate of 0.1–1.0 kHz are determined. The thermal conditions of the hollow cathode are analyzed, and the conclusion is drawn that the emission current high density is due to pulsed self-heating of the cathode’s surface layer. Conditions for stable emission from a plasma cathode with a grid acting as a plasma boundary using such a discharge are found at low accelerating voltage (100–200 eV) and a gas pressure of 0.1–0.4 Pa. The density of the ion current from a plasma generated by a pulsed beam with a current of 100 A is found to reach 0.1 A/cm². Probe diagnostics data for the emitting and beam plasmas in the electron source are presented, and a mechanism behind the instability of electron emission from the plasma is suggested on their basis.     

Wide-aperture high-current electron beam in a discharge with cathode plasma at elevated pressure

This work pursues investigations into the discharge with a cathode plasma in a cavity one wall of which is an insulating plate with a hole D in diameter (the cavity is 0.5 or 1.5 mm wide). This discharge is thoroughly analyzed in comparison with the high-voltage hollow-cathode discharge. Owing to the reduced emission of electrons from the cathode plasma, the discharge becomes more stable against transition to the low-voltage form, as a result of which an electron beam can be generated under higher gas pressures. Such a beam formed at the entrance to the cavity is used as an auxiliary one that propagates over the remaining (flat) surface of the cathode and adds to the gas ionization. Accordingly, the beam current from the main discharge to the anode rises (high-current regime). Wide-aperture (D = 22 mm) ≈1-μs-long pulsed beams with a current an order of magnitude higher than the total current of the equivalent anomalous discharge are obtained. Experiments are carried out at a helium pressure to 20 Torr and a voltage from 1 to 20 kV.     

Resonant cavity vircator driven by a thermionic cathode electronbeam gun

A resonant cavity vircator (virtual cathode oscillator) driven by an electron beam emitted from a broad-area thermionic cathode is tested. Narrow-bandwidth (1.0 MHz at the -3 dB level) excitation of the TM₀₂₃ mode of a cylindrical resonant cavity is observed at a frequency of 986 MHz with a pulselength of 1.2 μs. The single-cavity-mode excitation is attributed to the constant-voltage and -current electron beam emitted from the thermionic cathode     

Photoelectron-beam generation up to short threshold

We report on the behaviour of electron beams extracted from metal cathodes illuminated by a powerful XeCl-laser beam. The target materials used were Zn, Y and Ge. During the electron extraction a plasma was created on the target surface. At high laser energies and high accelerating voltages the plasma introduces an impedance into the cathode-anode region. Owing to the plasma formation short-circuits occur in the accelerating region thus limiting the maximum output current. Under our experimental conditions, a laser energy of 27 mJ and 3 mm of distance cathode-anode, a maximum output corrent density of about 4.9 A/cm² was obtained with the Zn cathode. The yttrium target may provide a higher current density but so far it could not be demonstrated due to plasma formation which short-circuits the anode-cathode region. The experimental results obtained with Ge targets are interesting for obtaining short electron pulses.     

High current electron beam generation in a vacuum transient hollowcathode discharge

Experimental observations are presented of prebreakdown electron beam generation in a transient hollow cathode discharge (THCD) in a vacuum. The discharge driver consists of a 400-kV maximum voltage, 25-nF Marx operated at 450-J stored energy coupled to a 120-ns, 1.5-Ω coaxial line. Electron beams with peak currents up to tens of kA are observed when a pulsed Nd:YAG laser is used to produce a plasma at the back of the cathode surface, inside the hollow cathode region (HCR). It is found that a plasma density of a few 10¹⁸ cm^-3 in a volume of a few mm³ is required to generate intense electron beams. Optimal conditions are determined by varying the position of the laser focal spot inside the HCR and the time delay between the laser and the applied voltage. The main features of the electron beams are similar to those observed in conventional THCD at pressures in the 10-200 mtorr range     

Study of Intense Electron Beams Produced by High-Voltage Pulsed Glow Discharges

We report the generation of high-current-density (20 A/cm2) pulsed electron beams from high-voltage (48-100 kV) glow discharges using cathodes 7.5 cm in diameter. The pulse duration was determined by the energy of the pulse generator and varied between 0.2 ?s and several microseconds, depending on the discharge current. The largest electron beam current (900 A) was obtained with an oxidized aluminum cathode in a helium-oxygen atmosphere. An oxidized magnesium cathode produced similar results, and a molybdenum cathode operated at considerably lower currents. A small-diameter (<1 mm) well-collimated beam of energetic electrons of very high current density (>1 kA/cm2) was also observed to develop in the center of the discharge. Electrostatic probe measurements show that the negative glow plasma density and the electron beam current have a similar spatial distribution. Electron temperatures of 1-1.5 eV were measured at 7 cm from the cathode. The plasma density (8.5 · 1011 cm-3 at 450 A) was found to depend linearly on the discharge current. In discharges at high currents a denser and higher temperature plasma region was observed to develop at approximately 20 cm from the cathode. We have modeled the process of electron beam generation and predicted the energy distribution of the electron beam. More than 95 percent of the electron beam energy is calculated to be within 10 percent of that corresponding to the discharge voltage.     

Formation of narrow-focused electron beams generated by a source with a plasma cathode in the forevacuum pressure range

Results are presented from experimental studies of the formation of focused electron beams produced by extracting electrons from the plasma of a steady-state discharge with a hollow cathode in the forevacuum pressure range. Based on the measurements of the energy spectrum and diameter of the electron beam, as well as of the emission parameters of the plasma produced in the course of beam-gas interaction, a conclusion is drawn about the excitation of a beam-plasma discharge that deteriorates the beam focusing conditions. The threshold beam current density for the excitation of a beam-plasma discharge is found to increase with accelerating voltage and gas pressure.     

Generation of high-current relativistic electron beams with stable (for a microsecond) parameters using explosive emission cathodes

Cold explosive emission cathodes, in which a plasma serves as an emitting surface, are used to generate relativistic electron beams with a high current density in a magnetic field. The plasma parameters change within a microsecond, thereby significantly changing the geometry of the electron beam. This paper is a review of techniques for stabilizing the geometry of microsecond high-current relativistic electron beams. It is shown that only a transverse-blade explosive emission cathode in a magnetically insulated diode can generate such beams (500 keV, 3 kA) the current density profile and electron trajectory pitch factor of which remain constant for a microsecond.     

Parameters of the Plasma Sheet Generated by a Sheet Beam in the Range of Forvacuum Pressures

Results of experimental investigations into the spatial distribution of the parameters of the plasma (electron concentration and temperature) generated by a sheet beam with energy up to 2 keV in argon at pressures from 6 to 9 Pa are presented. The electron beam was produced by a source with a plasma cathode specially designed for emission of beams in the range of forvacuum pressures. It is demonstrated that the character of distribution of the plasma parameters is caused by the corresponding distribution of the electron current density over the beam cross section, and the plasma parameters themselves also noticeably depend on the gas pressure and the magnetic field. A model of ionization processes that provides satisfactory agreement between the calculated and experimental dependences is suggested.     

Generating a low-energy high-current electron beam in a gun having a plasma anode

Research has been done on major physical processes governing the scope for generating magnetized low-energy high-current electron beams in a plasma-filled system. Conditions are considered for efficient excitation of the explosive electron emission at a large-area cathode at low accelerating voltages, together with the trends in beam formation in the nonstationary double layer formed between the cathode and anode plasmas, as well as the beam transport to the collector in the inhomogeneous guiding plasma. It is found that a gun having a plasma anode enables one to generate wide-aperture electron beams of microsecond duration having a mean electron energy of 10–20 keV and an energy density of up to 20 J/cm² or more, which goes with homogeneity sufficient for technological purposes.High-Current Electronics Institute, Siberian Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences. Translated from Izvestiya Vysshikh, Fizika, No. 3, pp. 100–114, March, 1994.     

强流电子束源阴极等离子体的粒子模拟

 模拟了强流电子束源阴极表面附近区域数密度约1014 cm-3的等离子体的膨胀过程,观察到等离子体膨胀速度约为1 cm/μs。通过观察不同时刻阴极附近电子和离子的相空间分布、数密度分布和轴向电场分布,分析了等离子体膨胀过程。结果表明:等离子体的产生使得阴极表面电场增强,进而增大阴极的电流发射密度,电流密度增加使得空间电荷效应增强,并使等离子体前沿处的电场减小,当等离子体前沿处的电场减小到零时等离子体向阳极膨胀。讨论了等离子体温度、离子质量、束流密度和离子产生率对等离子体膨胀速度的影响。结果表明:等离子体的膨胀速度随着等离子体温度升高而增大,随离子质量增大而减小,但膨胀速度不等于离子声速;等离子体产生率越小,等离子体膨胀速度越小。     

Low-impedance plasma systems for generation of high-current low-energy electron beams

The results of experimental investigation and numerical modeling of the generation of low-energy (tens of keV) high-current (up to tens of kA) electron beams in a low-impedance system consisting of a plasma-filled diode with a long plasma anode, an auxiliary hot cathode, and an explosive emission cathode. The low-current low-voltage beam from the auxiliary cathode in an external longitudinal magnetic field is used to produce a long plasma anode, which is simultaneously the channel of beam transportation by residual gas ionization. The high-current electron beam is formed from the explosive emission cathode placed in the preliminarily formed plasma. Numerical modeling is performed using the KARAT PIC code.     

The spatial and temporal development of pseudospark switch plasmas

Optical spectroscopy is used to investigate the spatial and temporal development of high-current pseudospark switch plasmas. At a peak discharge current of 12 kA in amplitude and a current reversal of 20%, the electron density is measured from Stark width broadening of the hydrogen Balmer beta line. The peak electron density of ~4×10¹⁵ cm^-3 is measured briefly after the current maximum. The discharge initially starts on the symmetry axis of the cathode hole. A cylindrical plasma column is observed, which is produced mainly by ionizing collisions of beam electrons formed in the hollow cathode during the early part of the discharge. This plasma column rapidly expands in the radial direction, until it contacts the edge of the cathode hole. The same behavior is found when the Balmer beta line intensity is evaluated rather than the line shape. Although statistically distributed, localized bursts of light are found occasionally, an axially symmetric, homogeneous light intensity distribution is always predominant, and the local arcing is merely superimposed on it. These results confirm that the discharge remains diffuse during most of the current pulse     

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HL-2A装置3MW ECRH系统采用双高压电源形式的电子回旋管,阴极高压电源为回旋管提供加速束电流,阳极高压电源对通过转换区后的束电流施加减速作用,利于回旋管收集极吸收。根据回旋管运行特点和各回旋管不同的工作特性,合理优化回旋管阴极、阳极高压电源工作电压和其他参数。通过远程监控系统,使同时工作的回旋管处于较好的工作状态,充分提高 HL-2A 装置 ECRH 系统多管运行的微波输出功率。实验中,6支回旋管同时运行时,微波最高输出功率2.5MW,达到设计额定值83%,使HL-2A装置中等离子体得到了有效的加热。