Discharge Systems and Plasma-Assisted Electron Emission in Forevacuum Pressure Range

Russian Physics Journal - The paper presents a review of the current status of research into processes in hollow-cathode and arc discharges that provide the electron emission from forevacuum plasma...     

High-Efficiency Electron Source with a Hollow Cathode in Technologies of Thin Film Deposition and Surface Treatment under Forevacuum Pressures

It is shown that low-energy beams with a high efficiency in a wide range of beam currents can be obtained in electron sources with a hollow cathode in the forevacuum pressure range. By varying the geometrical parameters of the electrode system and electromagnetic optics of the electron source, we succeeded in reaching the efficiency at a level of 0.9 for an accelerating potential of 1 kV and beam currents from 100 to 300 mA. The parameters affecting most strongly the efficiency and stability of operation of the electron source with a hollow cathode have been determined.     

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.     

Surface Wave Generation in a Solid State Plasma by Relativistic Electron Beams

The linear and nonlinear theory of the surface wave generation in solid-state plasma by a relativistic electron beam propagating in a gaseous plasma is treated. The proposed scheme is in better agreement with the conditions of real experiment. Besides, the neutralization of beam charge is possible and the oscillation frequency and its stability increase, etc. A nonlinear analysis permits to obtain the estimation of efficiency of the beam interaction with the surface wave and a number of other characteristics of the system.     

Generation and Amplification of Cherenkov Superradiance Pulses by Electron Beams with Energy Chirp

We propose a method for increasing the peak power of a superradiance pulse by varying the electron energy along an electron bunch. A one-dimensional time-dependent model describing the evolution of an electromagnetic pulse as well as direct numerical simulations based on the KARAT code show that the power of generated pulses becomes several times greater if the particle energy increases linearly along the bunch. A similar method can be applied to increase the peak power in the case of amplification of a short electromagnetic pulse (and a superradiance pulse generated by an external source) propagated along a quasi-continuous electron beam with a certain particle-energy profile.     

The Generation of Current in Tokamaks by the Absorption of Waves in the Electron Cyclotron Frequency Range

The theory of current generation due to the absorption of high-frequency waves is developed for the case in which the propagation of the waves is described in the geometrical optics approximation. An expression for the current generated is obtained which is similar in fornn to the expression for the rate of energy deposition. This expression is incorporated in a toroidal ray tracing code to study current generation due to the absorption of waves in the electron cyclotron frequency range. The dependence of the current generated on temperature and angle of injection for the joint Naval Research Laboratory-Oak Ridge National Laboratory experiment on ISXB is studied.     

Instabilities in Self-Focused Electron Beams

The appearance of large amplitude oscillations and attenuation of beam current have been observed in high perveance electrically self-focused beams. These phenomena are shown to be due to instabilities produced by the interaction of the beam with its self-generated plasma. The critical current which must be exceeded for the instabilities to appear and the frequencies of the oscillations have been related to beam and background parameters and the dimensions of the experimental system.     

Rayleigh Range of Hermite-Gaussian Array Beams

An analytical expression for the Rayleigh range of Hermite-Gaussian （H-G） array beams is derived. It is shown that under the non-phase-locked case the Rayleigh range zR increases monotonously with the increasing beam number M, the beam separation distance xd and the beam waist widthw0, and with decreasing the beam order m. However, under the phase-locked case there exists oscillatory behavior of zR versus m and xd. For Gaussian array beams, under the phase-locked case, zR is always larger than that under the non-phase-locked case. However, it holds true only when xd is small enough or w0 is large enough for H-G array beams. In addition, zR of Gaussian array beams is always larger than that of H-G array beams.     

Simulation of Non-Uniform Electron Beams in the Gyrotron Electron-Optical System

Technical Physics - New calculated data on the effect of emission inhomogeneities on the quality of the electron beam, which is formed in an electron-optical system of a gyrotron, have been...     

Fulfillment of Similarity Principles for Pulsed Discharges in a Highly Inhomogeneous Field at High Pressures Under Conditions of Runaway Electron Generation

Russian Physics Journal - An analysis of the fulfillment of the similarity law pτ = f(E/p) under conditions of a pulsed discharge triggered in a gas diode with a highly inhomogeneous field at...     

Strong Interaction of Low-Power Electron Beams with the Ionosphere

The late stages of the beam-plasma instability are not yet completely understood. A better knowledge of the evolution of the beam is necessary to explain the results of the electron beam experiments carried out in the ionosphere. An alternative to the complete stabilization by quasi-linear (QL) diffusion is the parametric "stabilization." In this case the beam remains unstable for very long distances, while retaining its "hot-beam" characteristics. A recent flight provides data that indicate the relevance of this mechanism in the evolution of the beam-plasma instability.     

Generation of Accelerating Beams along Arbitrary Trajectories

A phase superposition approach for generating arbitrarily accelerating beams is proposed, where the superimposed phase is composed of multiple sub‐phases, each of which determines an independent sub‐beam or sub‐trajectory. Further, an effective algorithm is developed to improve the uniformity of the intensity along the arbitrary trajectory by introducing phase‐shift factors. Experimental results are consistent with numerical simulations. The proposed method can be extended to nonparaxial fields, and it also breaks the previous trajectory restrictions. The arbitrarily accelerating optical beams can pave the way for optically moving particles along a predefined trajectory. The property of such beams following arbitrary trajectories is likely to give rise to new applications in wave front control, flexible optical manipulation, and optical transport and guidance of particles.     

Electron Temperatures and Electron Densities in Microwave Helium Discharges with Pressures Higher than 0.1 MPa

We adopted laser Thomson scattering for measuring the electron density and the electron temperature of microwave plasmas produced in helium at the pressures higher than the atmospheric pressure. The electron density decreased while we observed the increase in the electron temperature with the pressure. These are reasonable results by considering the decrease in the reduced electric field, the dominant loss of electrons via three‐body recombination with helium as the third body, and the production of electrons with medium energy via heavy particle collisions at the high gas pressure. The temporal variation of the electron temperature had the rise and the fall time constants of approximately 10 ns. The rapid heating and cooling of the electron temperature are due to the fast energy transfer from electrons to helium because of the high collision frequency in the high‐pressure discharge. (© 2015 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Nonlinear Generation of Perfect Vector Beams in Ultraviolet Wavebands

Perfect vector beams are a class of special vector beams with invariant radius and intensity profiles under changing topological charges. However, with the limitation of current devices, the generation of these vector beams is limited in the visible and infrared wavebands. Herein, we generate perfect vector beams in the ultraviolet region assisted by nonlinear frequency conversion. Experimental and simulation results show that the radius of the generated ultraviolet perfect vector beams remains ...     

Experimental Studies of Intense Pulsed Large-Area Electron Beams

We develop methods for studying intense long-pulsed large-area electron beams. Spatial and energy parameters of electron beams at the GESA technological facility are determined. Space-charge oscillations in such beams are discovered and possible explanations of the nature of these oscillations and their influence on the electron energy spectrum are proposed.     

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.     

An Observation of Energetic Electron Beams in Low-Pressure Linear Discharges

Experimental observations of energetic axial electron beams in a linear Z pinch operating in the pseudospark mode are presented. The device is driven from a fast Marx generator and allows reproducible production of electron beams over a wide pressure range. Evidence of the importance of electrons generated in the cathode recess in the formation of the beams is presented. An electron beam of high energy which is not associated with formation of the discharge is identified. A second beam of high current density and lower energy associated with gas breakdown is also observed.