Charged particle flow in plasma-filled pinched-electron-beam diodes

Abstract

Plasma-filled pinched-electron-beam diode experiments have been performed on the Gamble II (1.5 MV, 800 kA, 60 ns) pulsed power generator at Naval Research Laboratory. These plasma-filled diode (PFD) experiments show three phases of behavior: a low impedance phase followed by a phase of rapidly increasing impedance that culminates in a relatively constant vacuum impedance phase. The duration of the low impedance phase as well as the final operating impedance depends on the prefill plasma density. The charged particle flow in the PFD is studied with one-dimensional (1-D) and two-dimensional (2-D) simulation models. These simulation models show the formation of growing sheaths at both electrodes during the low impedance phase. The end of the low impedance phase in the simulations coincides with the two sheaths meeting in the center of the anode-cathode (A-K) gap. Based on these observations, an analytic model was developed that treats the low impedance phase as symmetric bipolar sheaths. The analytical model adequately predicts the duration of the low impedance phase predicted by the 1-D simulation model. Differences between the bipolar model and the experiments or 2-D simulations can be explained in terms of magnetized sheaths which enhance the ion current over the bipolar level and cause the sheath to grow faster than the bipolar model. During the rapidly increasing impedance phase, the simulations show that the cathode sheath quickly expands to completely fill the A-K gap. At this time, charged particle flow in the simulation models are consistent with the vacuum gap spacing. Experimentally, the higher density, longer conduction time, PFD shots exhibited a significantly lower final impedances than predicted by 2-D simulations. This difference is probably caused by expanding electrode surface plasmas produced by the interaction of the plasma source with one or both electrode surfaces.