Characteristic features of the generation of large-diameter low-energy electron beams from a penning plasma source

A wide-aperture plasma source of low-energy electron beams on the basis of an electrically asymmetric reflex discharge is studied experimentally. The characteristic features of the generation of electron beams are investigated, and the boundaries of the generation regime are determined. The influence of the dimensions and shape of the discharge electrodes on the source characteristics is examined. A method for efficiently controlling the electron-beam current is proposed.     

新型毫微秒强流脉冲电子束和离子束发生装置

本文讨论一种新的低气压放电型粒子源,用这种装置可以产生能量达70keV,电流密度超过10⁶A/cm²,电流为几百安培的脉冲电子流和安培级的脉冲离子流,作者建议用“电场递增效应”来解释这种多极板放电室的放电机制,由于它造价低、结构简单、重复频率高、寿命长,可以预期,这一装置将会得到广泛应用。 关键词：     

Observation of enhanced prebreakdown electron beams in a vacuumspark with a hollow-cathode configuration

The generation of prebreakdown electron beams in a low-energy vacuum spark with a hollow-cathode configuration is observed under a range of experimental conditions. The vacuum spark studied is powered by either a 25-kV, 3.3-nF single capacitor discharge or a two-stage, 50-kV, 1.65-nF Marx. The electron beams are detected by observing the X-ray emission from the anode tip produced by electron impact. Results show that an electron beam is formed well before the onset of the electrical breakdown. This prebreakdown electron beam has an initial slow buildup phase followed by an exponential rise, leading to the breakdown of the discharge. This behavior of the electron beam evolution is in good qualitative agreement with the model simulation of the pseudospark phenomenon obtained for a transient hollow-cathode discharge     

Low-voltage cathodoluminescence of ZnS single crystals

Bright blue and green cathodoluminescence from low resistivity ZnS crystals has been observed under the excitation of low-energy electron beams of several tens of volts; i.e., 40 fL at 50 V. Properties of the surface of the crystals are studied by the dependence of current and brightness on applied voltage and by the spectra of cathodoluminescence and photoluminescence.     

Formation of narrow low-energy high-intensity electron beams

The process of formation of high-density low-energy (5–10 keV) pulsed electron beams of small diameter (on the order of a few millimeters) in a gun of the “channel-spark” type is studied. It is shown that beams with a rate of rise of the current exceeding 10¹¹ A/s and an amplitude exceeding the Alfvén current by a factor of 1.5–2.0 can be obtained in experiments with intense preionisation of the transport channel combined with a pulsed supply of the accelerating voltage to the cathode. In the optimal pressure mode, the current density at a distance of 2–3 cm from the gun outlet is 40–25 kA/cm², which will ensure ablation of most solid targets.     

Thermal erosion of metal surfaces under the action of fine-focused scanning electron beams

A model of thermal erosion of a metal surface under the action of low-energy fine-focused scanning electron beams is developed. Peculiarities of thermal erosion of a metal surface irradiated by these beams with a power of 1…10 kW are considered. The influence of the irradiation parameters on the intensity of carrying the substance from the surface is analyzed. It is shown that due to such beams, the coefficients of metal erosion reach values of 10³ atom/electron and even greater. This is characteristic of powerful submicrosecond electron and ion beams, but the efficiency of using their energy turns out to be much higher.     

LUE-75 Linear Accelerator Facility at Yerevan Physics Institute

Owing to the growing interest in the low-energy nuclear physics, it becomes relevant to enhance the potential of the experimental facilities at Yerevan Physics Institute (YerPhI). The complex unit based on the linear electron accelerator LUE-75 (ARUS synchrotron injector) for applied and fundamental experiments with electron beams, the intensity and energy of which can vary in a wide range of 10^–18–10^–5 А and 10–50 MeV, has been created. In recent years, the regimes developed at LUE-75 were applied to obtain the controllable electron beams of extremely low intensity used for calibration of detectors.     

Measurements on electron beams in pulsed hollow-cathode discharges

Two different regimes of electron beams have been reported in the pulsed hollow cathode discharge-a low-current, high-energy beam, and a relatively high-current beam of low energy. The high-energy beam is related to the hollow cathode geometry and is found to be present even in the absence of subsequent gas breakdown, while the low-energy beam is always associated with voltage breakdown. Detailed measurements of the spatial and temporal distribution of the electron beam transported beyond a semitransparent anode associated with gas breakdown are reported. In particular, a high-energy component is observed after electrical breakdown. Low-energy electron beams are observed to be transported beyond the anode throughout the main discharge period     

General intense electron beams by means of a contracted arc discharge

Two types of contracted arc discharge are investigated with a view to generating intense electron beams over a wide pressure range (1–10^–3 Pa). For an arc discharge with a hollow cathode and anode, an electron beam corresponding to a current of up to 300 A and a pulse length of 25 µsec is obtained at a pressure of 1–10^–1 Pa in the accelerating gap with an accelerating voltage of up to 15 kV. At pressures of 10^–2–10^–3 Pa, emitting plasma is created by a low-pressure arc discharge on the basis of a Penning cell. Three discharge systems operating in parallel are used to increase the working life of the cathode and improve the current density distribution of the beam. An electron beam of diameter 200 mm with a current of up to 125 A and a pulse length of 50 µsec is obtained.Institute of High-Power Electronics, Siberian Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences. Translated from Izvestiya Vysshkikh Uchebnykh Zavedenii, Fizika, No. 3, pp. 76–82, March, 1994.     

Runaway electrons and Generation of high-power subnanosecond electron beams in dense gases

Works on the physics of electron runaway in gases, developing a new understanding of formation of runaway electron beams in gas discharge, are reviewed. Results of experiments with atmospheric-pressure gas-filled diodes, in which subnanosecond electron beams with a record current amplitude were obtained, are reported. The properties of volume nanosecond discharge, allowing to obtain such beams, are analyzed.     

Nuclear fragmentation with 100 MeV α-particles

On the basis of low pressure spark discharges a new type of a particle accelerator as been developed. It produces pulsed ion as well as electron beams of high intensities in a gas atmosphere at pressures of the order of 1 mbar. The method was used to produce in hydrogene at particle energies of about 70 keV an electron beam with a current density of more than 10⁶ A/cm² at 140 A total current. It is shown that magnetic confinement by the pinch effect takes place in the discharge. Discharge times smaller than 5 ns and spark frequencies up to 2 MHz can be obtained.     

Technological sources of charged particles with plasma emitters

At present, ion and electron beams, extensively used in industry, usually have a small cross section. Presented are generators of ion and electron flows with a large cross section using plasma emitters. These devices have a wide range of currents and voltages and are designed for metallurgical treatment and microelectronics. The author discusses a technological source of ions based on the vacuum-arc excited by a constricted discharge electron-beam installation with a large cross-section beam for microelectronics technology, a high-power electron-energy complex for heat treatment of manufactured articles and a generator of a low-energy, high-current electron beam with a plasma anode     

Determination of the electron energy distribution in a plasma from the first and second derivatives of the probe current

An approach to the reconstruction of the electron energy distribution function (EEDF) as the sum of the second derivative of the electron current to the probe and some value proportional to its first derivative is proposed (hereafter we mean derivatives with respect to voltage). Solutions to model problems for typical electron distributions in a plasma show that this approach lowers the systematic error of EEDF reconstruction by several times in comparison with the conventional techniques using Langmuir and diffusion probes. The approach is applicable in a wide range of the ratio of the probe radius to the free path of electrons. It can be used for the determination of fast nonequilibrium electron distribution in neon discharge afterglow and also for the evaluation of the Maxwellian electron temperature in the low-energy range of nitrogen discharge afterglow.     

Generation of high-energy electrons in a transverse slot-cathode nanosecond discharge at working gas medium pressures

Experimental data for the electrical and optical characteristics of a transverse slot-cathode nanosecond discharge are reported. The discharge is initiated in He at a discharge current of 1–500 A and a working gas pressure in a discharge chamber ranging from 10² to 10⁴ Pa. It is shown that the cathode current density is much (several orders of magnitude) higher than the total current density of an equivalent abnormal discharge. The electrical characteristics of an open discharge and a discharge confined by dielectric walls are found to differ considerably. Electrons passing through the cathode fall region acquire a high energy (on the order of 1 keV) under the given conditions. The fast electron relaxation conditions correlate with the initiation and evolution of the discharge. A pattern of the discharge evolution is derived from experimental data. A way of estimating the coefficient of electron emission from the cathode plasma 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.     

Production of high-energy electron beams in moderate and high-pressure gases

The feasibility of producing high-current, high-energy electron beams was studied for the application of nanosecond voltage pulses with amplitudes to 300 kV in accelerating gaps. The pressures of the gap gases (helium and nitrogen) measured from 10^–1 torr to atmospheric. Experiments showed that the placement of two barriers in the accelerating gap significantly increased the electron beam current due to an increase in the burn time of the volume discharge under conditions involving significant over-voltage in the electrical field. Electron beams with energies of up to 250 keV and currents up to 260 A were obtained.Translated from Izvestiya Vysshikh Uchebnykh Zavedenii, Fizika, No. 2, pp. 7–9, February, 1992.     

A reflex electron beam discharge as a plasma source for electronbeam generation

A reflex electron beam glow discharge has been used as a plasma source for the generation of broad-area electron beams. An electron current of 120 A (12 A/cm²) was extracted from the plasma in 10 μs pulses and accelerated to energies greater than 1 keV in the gap between two grids. The scaling of the scheme for the generation of multikiloamp high-energy electron beams is discussed     

High-energy passive-ionization electrons and holes in dielectrics with pulsed irradiation by high-density electron beams

This article is a survey of works by the author and colleagues on the investigation of charging and discharging dynamics in solid dielectrics exposed to dense electron beams with subnanosecond resolution. Small high-current electron accelerators of theDzhin type, which were developed and fabricated at the Nonlinear Physics Laboratory, were used as the source of the primary electron beam. The primary electron beam parameters were: 0.25–0.45 MeV, 1–30 nsec, 0.1–10,000 A/cm³. The dielectric is investigated experimentally with its surface covered by a metallic electrode and with critical electron emission into the vacuum eliminated. In this case, the total current in the dielectric consists of three components: the primary beam current, the displacement current, and the conduction current. The first and last are responsible for charging and discharging of the dielectric volume. It is shown that the bulk nonequilibrium radiation conduction mechanism depends greatly on the dose intensity. For small dose intensities, the principal current carriers are the low-energy electrons of the conduction band and holes of the valence band, which are in quasi-equilibrium with the lattice phonon field before capture by defects or merging into excitons preceding recombination. This type of conduction has been well studied in the physics of semiconductors and dielectrics. However, over a broad interval of intermediate and high dose intensities, another type of nonequilibrium conduction dominates — the high-energy, which was discovered and studied by the author and colleagues. The principal carriers are then passive-ionization electrons and holes with energies of 0.1–10 eV in the process of phonon relaxation in which phonon emission dominates absorption. The high-energy conduction differs considerably from the low-energy in many properties, which determines the unusual dynamics of dielectric charging and discharging with irradiation by the dense electron beam of a high-current accelerator. Institute of High-Current Electronics, Siberian Section, Russian Academy of Sciences. Tomsk Polytechnic University. Translated from Izvestiya Vysshikh Uchebnykh Zavedenii, Fizika, No. 11, pp. 109–119, November, 1996.     

The LEBIT facility at MSU

The low-energy beam and ion trap facility LEBIT at the NSCL at MSU has demonstrated that rare isotopes produced by fast-beam fragmentation can be slowed down and prepared such that precision experiments with low-energy beams are possible. For this purpose high-pressure gas-stopping is employed combined with advanced ion manipulation techniques. Penning trap mass measurements on short-lived rare isotopes have been performed with a 9.4 T Penning trap mass spectrometer. Examples include ⁶⁶As, which has a half-live of only 96 ms, and the super-allowed Fermi-emitter ³⁸Ca, for which a mass accuracy of 8 ppb (280 eV) has been achieved. The high accuracy of this new mass value makes ³⁸Ca a new candidate for the test of the conserved vector current hypothesis.      

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.