Submicrosecond Pulsed Electron Beam Formation in Electron Sources and Accelerators with Plasma Emitters

The most popular methods for submicrosecond electron beam generation and physical processes underlying electron extraction from plasma in plasma emitters are considered. Electron sources and accelerators developed on the basis of plasma emitters allow pulsed beams with currents from tens to 10³ A and current densities of several amperes per square centimeter, pulse durations of hundreds of nanoseconds, and high repetition rates to be generated.     

Gas-filled electron diode based on a glow discharge

Stable ignition and sustention of a pulsed discharge with a current of up to 180 A and duration of 12 μs at a pressure of 10⁻¹–10⁻² Pa are achieved in a glow-discharge plasma cathode with the help of an auxiliary initiating discharge. An electron emission current density of up to 100 A/cm² and accelerating voltageof 15 kV are obtained in a gas-filled diode based on this type of a plasma cathode. An electron beam witha neutralized space charge can be transported almost without losses in a weak axial magnetic field alonga plasma channel formed due to the gas ionization by the accelerated electrons over a distance of up to 30 cm.     

Generation of High-Current Low-Energy Electron Beams in Systems with Plasma Emitters

Generation and transport of high-current electron beams are investigated in gas-filled diodes with plasma emitters based on arc and glow discharges. A space-charge neutralized beam with a current up to 1 kA was produced in a diode with a plasma emitter based on an arc discharge for an accelerating voltage of 15 kV. The beam is constricted from 8 cm down to 1 cm in diameter by a self-magnetic field and is transported through a distance of over 20 cm with an efficiency of 70%. A beam with a current of 80 A and a current density up to 100 A/cm² was produced in a glow-discharge diode. The beam was transported through a distance of 30 cm in a weak axial magnetic field with induction B = 0.015 T.     

Plasma-assisted deposition of a three-layer structure by vacuum andgas arcs

The durability and adhesion of thin coatings often depends on the structure and properties of the layer intermediate between the coating and the substrate, especially in the case where the layer and the substrate are highly different in microhardness. With a vacuum arc and a hot-cathode arc, a process has been arranged which involves cleaning of the surface, nitration of the article, and deposition of a coating. As a result, a three-layer composition has been produced which consists of a TiN layer of thickness up to 5 μm and microhardness 20 GPa, an intermediate Fe₄N layer of thickness up to 8 μm and microhardness 7.5 GPa, and a nitrated layer of thickness up to 100 μm with a gradually varying microhardness. With the TiN layer showing high adhesion, the coating has a durability three of four times greater than that of a coating produced with the use of a conventional technology     

Hollow-Cathode Low-Pressure Arc Discharges and Their Application in Plasma Generators and Charged-Particle Sources

This paper presents the results of a study of hollow-cathode arc discharges which generate gas-discharge plasmas of densities 10¹⁰–10¹² cm^–3 in large volumes (1 m³) at low pressures (10^–2–1 Pa) and at discharge currents of up to 200 A. Consideration is given to the design and peculiarities of hot-cathode and cold-cathode discharge systems. The parameters of plasma generators and charged-particle sources where use is made of arc discharges are cited and the problems of the most efficient application of such systems in technological processes of solid surface modification are discussed.     

Plasma-emitter electron accelerators

This paper considers the physical processes associated with the extraction of electrons from the gas discharge plasma in plasma emitters where the emission boundary is stabilized with a fine grid. The ways of improving the uniformity of the emission current density distribution are discussed. Accelerators designed on the basis of plasma emitters are capable of producing pulsed beams of current 10–10³ A, current density 0.1–1.0 A/cm², pulse duration 10⁻⁷–10⁻³ s, and cross-sectional area up to 10⁴ cm². Institute of High-Current Electronics, Siberian Division of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Translated from Izvestiya Vysshikh Uchebnykh Zavedenii, Fizika, No. 5, pp. 92–96, April, 2000.     

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Ohne Zusammenfassung     

Cold-hollow-cathode arc discharge in crossed electric and magnetic fields

A crossed-field cold-hollow-cathode arc is stable at low working gas pressures of 10⁻²–10⁻¹ Pa, magnetic-field-and gas-dependent arcing voltages of 20–50 V, and discharge currents of 20–200 A. This is because electrons come from a cathode spot produced on the inner cathode surface by a discharge over the dielectric surface. The magnetic field influences the arcing voltage and discharge current most significantly. When the plasma conductivity in the cathode region decreases in the electric field direction, the magnetic field increases, causing the discharge current to decline and the discharge voltage to rise. The discharge is quenched when a critical magnetic field depending on the type of gas is reached. Because of the absence of heated elements, the hollow cathode remains efficient for long when an arc is initiated in both inert and chemically active gases.     

Influence of the composition of a plasma-forming gas on nitriding in a non-self-maintained glow discharge with a large hollow cathode

The article presents the results of an investigation into the influence of the composition of a plasma-forming gas (N₂, Ar, He) on nitriding of VT1-0 grade titanium (0.25%-Fe; 0.1%-Si; 0.2%-O) and commercial 40X steel (0.4%-C; 1.0%-Cr) in the plasma of a non-self-maintained glow discharge with a large hollow cathode. It is shown that the efficiency of nitriding of 40X steel weakly depends on the composition of the plasma-forming gas mixture, whereas nitriding of VT1-0 titanium in a helium-nitrogen mixture leads to a noticeable increase in the microhardness of the specimen’s surface in comparison with nitriding in an argon-nitrogen gas mixture.     

Technological Ion Sources Based on a Vacuum Arc Discharge

Technological ion sources of the TITAN type have been developed at the Institute of High Current Electronics, RAS, for the last ten years. These sources generate wide-aperture high-current beams of gas or metal ions and also mixed two-component gas-metal ion beams with a controllable component ratio. This is possible due to two discharge systems combined into one discharge system of the source. Metal ions are obtained with a vacuum arc discharge and gas ions are generated with a constricted hollow-cathode low-pressure arc discharge. This paper describes the principle and peculiarities of operation of the given sources, their design, parameters, and fields of application. A modified version of the Mevva ion source is considered. The design of this version is based on the results of studies conducted using the TITAN source.