Computer modeling of electron emission processes in strong electromagnetic fields

Abstract

The paper discusses the problem of computer simulation of electron emission processes in strong electromagnetic fields. In this work, a numerical method for calculating electron emission from the surface of a metal cathode for the axial symmetric geometry of a technical system is proposed. For modelling, the particle method and grid calculations of electromagnetic fields based on Maxwell's equations are applied. The approach uses the representation of large smoothed Gaussian particles and implements calculations of the electromagnetic fields on Cartesian spatial grids. The software realization is directed towards on parallel computing. The calculation of the emission process in a coaxial cylindrical diode with magnetic self-insulation with the use of developed technique was carried out. The process is considered for two situations: with and without the longitudinal plasma layer. The calculations show that the presence of plasma leads to an increase in the emission current. This result is consistent with the results of experiments.