Current Characteristics of a High-Current Electron Gun with Multi-Gap Initiation of Explosive Emission by Dielectric Surface Flashover

Abstract

Current characteristics of a plasma-filled, high-current electron gun at different accelerating voltages and densities of plasma preliminary filling the space between the cahode and collector have been investigated. Multi-gap initiation of explosive emission is performed with the use of parallel operated, resistively decoupled arc plasma sources which electrodes and tube ceramic isolators are built-in to the explosive-emission cathode. Experiments have demonstrated operability of high-current electron gun with a new cathode assembly at accelerating voltage up to 30 kV and its good emissivity (average in area current density) which was approximately 1.4-2.4times higher than an emissivity of traditional electron gun with plasma anode and multi-wire copper cathode. Keywords: high-current electron beams, explosive emission, cathode assembly, multi-gap initiation, dielectric surface flashover.