A study of the propagation of a quasistationary relativistic electron beam in a dense gas. II. Experimental studies

Results obtained from experimental studies of the interaction between a quasistationary electron beam (300 keV, 20 A, 500 sec, 0.3 cm) and a dense gas are presented. These investigations were carried out in air at atmospheric pressure and, for the purpose of modeling the propagation of a magnetostricted REB, at reduced pressure (3–300 torr). The rarefaction dynamics of a channel heated by the beam are studied and its maximum propagation distances in a dense gas are determined. The results obtained are compared with the theoretical model examined earlier.V. I. Lenin All-Union Institute of Electrical Engineering. Translated from Izvestiya Vysshikh Uchebnykh Zavedenii, Radiofizika, Vol. 34, No. 2, pp. 190–197, February, 1991.