Analysis of parameters of an electron beam from a plasma-filled diode

We analyze the properties of a high-current electron beam formed in an electron source based on a plasma-filled diode and a linear pulsed transformer. The beam parameters are determined by measuring bremsstrahlung X-rays and the beam current, as well as the photographs of the diode gap in the optical range, of the anode in X-rays, and beam autographs. A beam with a current of ～100 kA and a mean electron energy exceeding 0.7 MeV for an accelerating voltage amplitude of ～1 MV is obtained. The diameter of the generated beam is ～1 cm. The electron beam from the plasma-filled diode makes it possible to attain a high anode power density (>10¹⁰ W/cm²) for exciting shock waves, for obtaining high pressures, and for generating powerful X-rays.     

大回旋电子束双磁会切电子枪的设计

 分析了Ka波段二次谐波回旋行波管双磁会切电子枪的理论模型,计算了电子枪的设计参数;采用EGUN软件进行模拟,设计出了产生大回旋电子束的双磁会切电子枪。该枪电压为70 kV,电流为3.35 A,电子束横纵速度比为1.62,速度零散为4.2%。给出了电子束速度比、速度零散沿轴线的分布,进而讨论了阳极电压对电子束性能的影响,结果表明选择适当的阳极电压和阴极磁场对得到好的电子束参量作用明显。     

Relativistic electron beams detection in a dense plasma focus

Fast electron beams into a hollow anode of a small plasma focus machine (2 kJ, 4 μF) were measured. The diagnostic method designed for this purpose is founded in a small Rogowski coil introduced into a cavity performed in the anode. By means of this, electron beam pulses of about 10 ns width generated in the plasma focus are detected. Simultaneously, hard X-ray signals obtained from a scintillator-photomultiplier system are registered. The electron beam energy was measured through the time-of-flight of the electrons between probe and anode top. The beams are found to be relativistic and its energy is into the range of hard X-rays energy. An analysis of signal intensities and relative delays for three hundred shots are here presented. Received 28 February 2002 / Received in final form 7 May 2002 Published online 24 September 2002     

超紧凑型飞秒电子衍射仪的设计

由于空间电荷效应的限制,产生百飞秒的极短电子脉冲是超快电子衍射技术的一大难点.同时,电子的穿透深度随着电子能量的增加而增加,而电子的散射几率却具有相反的规律.因而,除了时间分辨的提升,还需要可宽范围调节的电子能量以优化不同厚度样品对其的需求.基于此,提出并设计了一种新型超紧凑电子枪,结合均匀场阴极和可移动阳极的配置,可在10-125 kV加速电压范围内实现100 fs量级时间分辨率.通过优化设计高压电极轮廓,使得其轴上和整个阴极面的场增强因子在不同阴阳极间距下均小于约4%,从而保证了不同加速电压下最大轴上场强均可达10 MV/m量级,有效地抑制了电子脉冲的展宽效应;进一步将阳极小孔设计成可放置致密电镜载网的阶梯孔,一方面可将载网支撑的样品紧贴小孔后方放置,最大程度上缩短了电子从阴极到样品的时间弥散,同时也可以有效地减弱阳极孔对电子束的散焦效应,提升电子束的横向聚焦性能.     

Beam rotation and shear in a large electron beam diode

The time-averaged electron-beam current distribution of one of the electron guns of the large Aperture Module (LAM) of the Aurora laser was measured as part of a larger set of experiments designed to study the electron beam transport to and energy deposition in the LAM laser chamber. The radiograms made on the center line of the LAM laser chamber while the laser chamber was at vacuum pressure demonstrated several of the expected results. The beam was relatively uniform over the aperture, with the exception of shadows cast by the diode anode wires, the Hibachi ribs, and the Hibachi support structure. At a depth of 50 cm into the laser chamber, the self-magnetic field of the beam produced a shear in the top and bottom edges of 15 cm. At the same depth the applied magnetic field caused a rotation of the entire beam profile of about 3°     

Separation of image-distortion sources and magnetic-field measurement in scanning electron microscope (SEM)

The electron-microscope image distortion generated by electromagnetic interference (EMI) is an important problem for accurate imaging in scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Available commercial solutions to this problem utilize sophisticated hardware for EMI detection and compensation. Their efficiency depends on the complexity of distortions influence on SEM system. Selection of a proper method for reduction of the distortions is crucial. The current investigations allowed for a separation of the distortions impact on several components of SEM system. A sum of signals from distortion sources causes wavy deformations of specimen shapes in SEM images. The separation of various reasons of the distortion is based on measurements of the periodic deformations of the images for different electron beam energies and working distances between the microscope final aperture and the specimen. Using the SEM images, a direct influence of alternating magnetic field on the electron beam was distinguished. Distortions of electric signals in the scanning block of SEM were also separated. The presented method separates the direct magnetic field influence on the electron beam below the SEM final aperture (in the chamber) from its influence above this aperture (in the electron column). It also allows for the measurement of magnetic field present inside the SEM chamber. The current investigations gave practical guidelines for selecting the most efficient solution for reduction of the distortions.     

Study on differential algebraic method for electron optical properties of wide electron beams in immersion electrostatic-magnetic lenses

Differential algebraic method for calculation of electron optical properties is extended to wide electron beams in combined immersion electrostatic-magnetic lenses, based on Taylor series expansion of the differential algebraic data structure of wide electron beam focusing systems. Higher order aberrations referred to off-axis central trajectories are calculated and this makes the evaluation of wide electron beam focusing properties much simplified with high-enough precision. A program was written, and a specific combined immersion electrostatic-magnetic lens is calculated as an example. Computed results show that the second aperture aberrations referred to off-axis central trajectories of the system of the primary one, whereas the third- and over third-order ones only play a secondary role.     

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.     

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     

Passive magnetic shielded spin polarized electron source with optical electron polarimeter

A new GaAs(100) spin polarized electron source with an optical polarimeter, which is employed in the field of polarized electron and gas atom collision, is presented in detail. The apparatus is passive-magnetic-shielded by a box and a cylinder made of nickel--iron--molybdenum soft magnetic alloy without Helmholtz coil arrangement. And a uniformly distributed residual magnetic field of less than 5×10^-7,T is obtained near the collision area. The spin polarized electron beam is transmitted and focused onto collision point from photocathode by a set of electron optics with more than 25% transmission 95cm distance through an 1mm diameter aperture. Construction and operation of the apparatus, such as vacuum and magnetic shielding system, photocathode, laser optics, electron optics and polarimeter are discussed. The polarization of the spin polarized electron beam is determined to be 30.8\pm3.5% measured with a He optical polarimeter.     

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     

Collimation with hollow electron beams

A novel concept of controlled halo removal for intense high-energy beams in storage rings and colliders is presented. It is based on the interaction of the circulating beam with a 5-keV, magnetically confined, pulsed hollow electron beam in a 2-m-long section of the ring. The electrons enclose the circulating beam, kicking halo particles transversely and leaving the beam core unperturbed. By acting as a tunable diffusion enhancer and not as a hard aperture limitation, the hollow electron beam collimator extends conventional collimation systems beyond the intensity limits imposed by tolerable losses. The concept was tested experimentally at the Fermilab Tevatron proton-antiproton collider. The first results on the collimation of 980-GeV antiprotons are presented.     

无箔二极管结构设计研究

用数值计算方法研究了无箔二极管中几何结构参量对束流的影响，得出了无箔二极管结构参数选择的部分规律，同时又结合实际给出了一个无箱二级管模型的最佳组合参数．     

Ultrashort electron beam and volume high-current discharge in air under the atmospheric pressure

Conditions are studied under which an electron beam and a volume discharge with a subnanosecond rise time of a voltage pulse are produced in air under atmospheric pressure. It is shown that the electron beam appears in a gas-filled diode at the front of the voltage pulse in ∼0.5 ns, has a half-intensity duration of ≤0.4 ns and an average electron energy of ∼0.6 of the voltage across the gas-filled diode, and terminates when the voltage across the gap reaches its maximum value. The electron beam with an average electron energy of 60 to 80 keV and a current amplitude of ≥70 A is obtained. It is assumed that the electron beam is formed from electrons produced in the gap due to gas ionization by fast electrons when the intensity of the field between the front of the expanding plasma cloud and the anode reaches its critical value. A nanosecond volume discharge with a specific power input of ≥400 MW/cm³, a density of the discharge current at the anode of up to 3 kA/cm², and specific energy deposition of ∼1 J/cm³ over 3 to 5 ns is created.     

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.     

低速度零散会切电子枪的设计和数值仿真

根据拉格朗日方程对电子在平滑会切磁场中的径向波动与速度零散的关系进行讨论。运用Matlab,Magic软件相互结合的方法设计电子枪结构和磁场。用Matlab程序模拟单电子在给定电场、磁场中的运动,分析了单电子径向速度对零散的影响,并优化磁场分布。设计的磁场可以有效地减小单电子束径向速度,降低电子束速度零散。用Magic软件对电流为1 A、能量为30 keV的电子束在优化磁场中的运动进行仿真,得到的电子束速度比约为2,速度零散小于2.5%,轴向速度零散小于8.5%。     

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.     

Analysis of propagation of a high-current electron beam from a sectioned plasma-filled diode

We report on the results of analysis of propagation of an electron beam from a plasma-filled diode in the absence of the metal anode between the regions of beam generation and transportation. The diode parameters are 160 kA, 400 kV, and 50 GW. At a distance exceeding 10 cm behind the generation region, a beam current of 100 kA to the target and an energy density of 20 J/cm² are attained for the beam cross-sectional area of about 200 cm². The possibility of varying the beam current and energy density by changing the distance to the target is demonstrated.     

Inhomogeneous extended hollow cathode discharge for raising the current density in a forevacuum plasma source of a ribbon electron beam

The plasma parameters and the emissivity of a ribbon electron beam source based on a discharge with an inhomogeneous extended hollow cathode are measured. A constriction in the cathode cavity increases the plasma density near the emitting area boundary, which adds to the electron current density in the beam. The reason for the above effect is the formation of the plasma density distribution nonuniform across the cavity with a maximum in the middle. This maximum is caused primarily by a plasma electron flow from the constriction, which is generated by the electric field and is directed toward a slit emission-extracting aperture.     

Effect of gas pressure on amplitude and duration of electron beam current in a gas-filled diode

The parameters of an electron beam generated in helium in the pressure range p = 10⁻⁴−12 atm are studied. Nanosecond high-voltage pulses are applied to a gap between a tubular cathode and planar anode, which is made of 45-μm-thick AlBe foil. Behind the anode, an electron beam is detected at a helium pressure of 12 atm. The pressure dependence of the beam current amplitude shows three peaks at p ≈ 0.01, ≈ 0.07, and ≈ 3 atm. The beam-induced glow of a luminescent film placed behind the foil and the discharge glow at different helium pressures in the gas-filled diode are photographed.