Efficiency of electron beam extraction to the atmosphere in an accelerator based on ion-electron emission

Abstract

Abstract The use of a modern element base makes it possible to create power supplies with a transition from a direct mode of generation of an auxiliary discharge to a pulse-periodic mode with a pulse repetition rate at the level of several tens of kHz. This allows for a more flexible adjustment of the discharge parameters, keeping the average value of its current, but changing its amplitude with a corresponding change in the pulse duty cycle. In this work, using an electron accelerator based on ion-electron emission, generating a wide-aperture electron beam, we research the effect of auxiliary discharge generation mode (direct and pulse-periodic) on the efficiency of electron beam extraction into the ambient atmosphere. It is shown that, in a direct mode of electron beam generation at an accelerating voltage of 150 kV, the beam extraction coefficient does not exceed 0.25. The possibility of increasing the extraction coefficient to K = 0.55 at the same accelerating voltage of 150 kV was demonstrated without making changes to the design of the accelerator, but switching to a pulsed-periodic mode of emission plasma generation.