The results of a numerical simulation of the generation of runaway electrons in pressurized nitrogen and helium gases are presented. It was shown that runaway electrons generation occurs in two stages. In the first stage, runaway electrons are composed of the electrons emitted by the cathode and produced in gas ionization in the vicinity of the cathode. This stage is terminated with the formation of the virtual cathode, which becomes the primary source of runaway electrons in the second stage. Also, it was shown that runaway electrons current is limited by both the shielding of the field emission by the space charge of the emitted electrons and the formation of a virtual cathode. In addition, the influence of the initial conditions, such as voltage rise time and amplitude, gas pressure, and the type of gas, on the processes that accompany runaway electrons generation is presented.
Nanosecond discharge in dense gases has been the focus of intense research since the 1960's due to the interesting physical phenomena involved and its important practical applications. Plasma produced in such a discharge is used widely for pulsed laser pumping, effective release of energy from microwave compressors, and switching of
An investigation of the properties of the plasma and the electron beam produced by velvet cathodes in a diode powered by a ∼200kV, ∼300ns pulse is presented. Spectroscopic measurements demonstrated that the source of the electrons is surface plasma with electron density and temperature of ∼4×1014cm−3 and ∼7eV, respectively, for an electron current density of ∼50A∕cm2. At the beginning of the accelerating pulse, the plasma expands at a velocity of ∼106cm∕s towards the anode for a few millimeters, where its stoppage occurs. It was shown by optical and x-ray diagnostics that in spite of the individual character and nonuniform cross-sectional distribution of the cathode plasma sources, the uniformity of the extracted electron beam is satisfactory. A mechanism controlling the electron current-density cross-sectional uniformity is suggested. This mechanism is based on a fast radial plasma expansion towards the center due to a magnetic-field radial gradient. Finally, it was shown that the interaction of the electron beam with the stainless-steel anode does not lead to the formation of an anode plasma.
The results of numerical simulations of the generation of runaway electrons in a nitrogen-filled coaxial diode with electron emission governed by field emission that transfers to explosive emission with a variable time delay are presented. It is shown that the time when the explosive emission turns on influences significantly the generation of runaway electrons. Namely, an explosive emission turn-on prior to the formation of the virtual cathode leads to an increase in the current amplitude of the runaway electrons and a decrease in its duration. Conversely, an explosive emission turn-on after the formation of the virtual cathode and during the high-voltage pulse rise time does not influence the generation of runaway electrons significantly. When the explosive emission turns on during the fall of the high-voltage pulse and after the virtual cathode formation, one obtains additional runaway electron generation. Finally, a comparison between electron energy distributions obtained with and without explosive emission turn-on showed that the former increases the number of electrons in the high-energy tail and the electrons' largest energy. The comparison of both the simulated electron energy distributions with the experimentally obtained electron spectrum has shown that the best fit is obtained when the explosive emission is considered in the simulation.
There is a continuous interest in research of electron sources which can be used for generation of uniform electron beams produced at E≤105 V/cm and duration ≤10−5 s. In this review, several types of plasma electron sources will be considered, namely, passive (metal ceramic, velvet and carbon fiber with and without CsI coating, and multicapillary and multislot cathodes) and active (ferroelectric and hollow anodes) plasma sources. The operation of passive sources is governed by the formation of flashover plasma whose parameters depend on the amplitude and rise time of the accelerating electric field. In the case of ferroelectric and hollow-anode plasma sources the plasma parameters are controlled by the driving pulse and discharge current, respectively. Using different time- and space-resolved electrical, optical, spectroscopical, Thomson scattering and x-ray diagnostics, the parameters of the plasma and generated electron beam were characterized.
We report experimental results of operation of a high-current hollow anode (HA) with a BaTi ferroelectric plasma source (FPS) incorporated in it. It is shown that the application of the FPS allows one to significantly decrease the HA surface area, thus providing a compact electron source. Use of this HA as an electron source in a high-voltage diode for generation of high-current electron beams is described as well. It was found that the FPS allows reliable ignition and sustaining of the HA discharge with current amplitude ⩽1.2 kA and pulse duration ⩽2×10−5 s at N2 gas pressure of (1–3)×10−4 Torr. Also, it was found that the operation of the HA is characterized by plasma formation with density of ∼4×1012 cm−3, electron temperature of ∼5 eV, and that the plasma acquires a positive potential of ∼10 V with respect to the anode and of 50–70 V with respect to the autobiased HA output grid. It is shown that the autobiased HA output grid prevents plasma penetration towards the accelerating gap if the grid half-cell size has approximately the same value as the thickness of the double layer formed between the plasma and the grid wires. Generation and characterization of a high-current electron beam with current amplitude of ∼1.2 kA was achieved under an accelerating pulse amplitude ⩽300 kV and ∼400 ns pulse duration.
Results of optical and spectroscopic studies of the plasma formation at the surface of two types of carbon-fiber cathodes in a diode powered by an ∼200 kV accelerating pulse are presented. It was found that during the pulse, generation of the plasma occurs in a form of several millimeter size plasma spots. In the vicinity of the cathode surface the average plasma density and temperature were found to be ∼3×1014 cm−3 and ∼5 eV, respectively, for an electron current density of ∼22 A/cm2. The plasma expansion velocity toward the anode was found to be ∼1.5×106 cm/s during the first 150 ns of the accelerating pulse duration.
The results of experiments on the reproducible generation of an electron beam having a high current density of up to 300 A/cm2 and a satisfactorily uniform cross-sectional distribution of current density in a ∼200 kV, ∼450 ns vacuum diode with a carbon-epoxy capillary cathode are presented. It was found that the source of the electrons is the plasma formed as a result of flashover inside the capillaries. It is shown that the plasma formation occurs at an electric field ≤15 kV/cm and that the cathode sustains thousands of pulses without degradation in its emission properties. Time- and space-resolved visible light observation and spectroscopy analyses were used to determine the cathode plasma’s density, temperature, and expansion velocity. It was found that the density of the cathode plasma decreases rapidly in relation to the distance from the cathode. In addition, it was found that the main reason for the short-circuiting of the accelerating gap is the formation and expansion of the anode plasma. Finally, it was shown that when an external guiding magnetic field is present, the injection of the electron beam into the drift space with a current amplitude exceeding its critical value changes the radial distribution of the current density of the electron beam because the inner electrons are reflected from the virtual cathode.
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