Characterization of Pseudospark Discharge-Based Multigap Plasma Cathode Electron Source for the Generation of Short Pulsed Energetic Electron Beam

• Published in: IEEE transactions on electron devices Vol. 69; no. 8; pp. 4572 - 4578
• Main Authors: Varun, Lamba, Ram Prakash, Pal, Udit Narayan
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York IEEE 01-08-2022; The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc. (IEEE)
• Subjects: Anodes; Cathodes; Circuits; Discharges (electric); Drift; Electric potential; Electron beam generation OOPIC PRO; Electron beams; Electrons; Fault location; High current; hollow cathode (HC) phase; Hollow cathodes; Low currents; Partial discharges; phases of pseudospark (PS) discharge; plasma cathode electron (PCE) source; Pseudospark discharge; Radiation; Soft x rays; Ultraviolet radiation
• DOI: 10.1109/TED.2022.3181569
• EISSN: 1557-9646
• ISSN: 0018-9383

Pseudospark (PS) discharge-based devices are known as excellent source for the generation of high current density and energetic self-focused electron beam in the hollow cathode (HC) phase. In this article, short pulsed (<inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">\!\!\!< 100 </tex-math></inline-formula> ns) and high energetic (~20 keV) electron beam has been generated and propagated (up to ~60 mm) in the drift region without using any external guiding magnetic field from the four-gap configuration of PS discharge-based plasma cathode electron (PD-PCE) source. The particle-in-cell (PIC) simulation code OOPIC Pro has been employed, whose results have shown the strong dependence of beam propagation into the drift region on the penetration and distribution of potential lines. The combined experimental and simulation investigations have also been carried for the multigap (four-gap) with wide range of external storage capacitor (40 pF-18 nF) and operating voltages (5-35 kV). The circuit parameter controls the appearance of HC phase for the energetic (50%-70% applied voltage) electron beam and conductive phase for the high current (~10 A to ~0.5 kA) electron beam. The potential distribution has clearly indicated that the electron beam with higher applied voltages can propagate more focused in the drift region. The investigations have evidently shown the generation of low energy and high current to high energy and low current electron beams suitable to cover the potential applications in the field of extreme ultraviolet (EUV)/soft X-ray radiation generation, surface modification, and microwave-terahertz radiation generation.