Electron acceleration in a gas-filled hot-channel diode under atmospheric pressure

Generation of accelerated electrons in a gas diode with hot channel

“…Comparison of the results of this study and the 1D simulation data of [5] revealed significant differences. First, only one (specifically, the first) pulse of the cur rent of fast electrons that passed to the runaway mode in the hot region was observed in [5].…”

“…First, only one (specifically, the first) pulse of the cur rent of fast electrons that passed to the runaway mode in the hot region was observed in [5]. Our calculations yielded two pulses of fast electrons, which were gener ated in the hot region before the cathode (the first pulse) and in the cold region before the plasma chan nel front near the anode (the second pulse).…”

“…Our calculations yielded two pulses of fast electrons, which were gener ated in the hot region before the cathode (the first pulse) and in the cold region before the plasma chan nel front near the anode (the second pulse). Second, the pulse of the fast electron current in [5] had much larger amplitude and width. These differences are due to the fact that the volume of the heated region in our study was smaller than that in [5] and the voltage across the gap decreased more rapidly.…”

“…The calculations carried out in [5] within the one dimensional model showed that accelerated electron beams with a current up to 1 kA and a mean energy of about (2/3)eU (U is the accelerating voltage) can be formed. However, the real geometry of a hot channel is disregarded in the one dimensional model; therefore, these calculations are only estimations and obviously should be refined.…”

“…It was proposed in [5] to increase the E/N ratio by reducing N rather than increasing E (the latter approach is traditionally used). To this end, a high temperature discharge region must be formed near the cathode.…”