Development of a High-Beam-Transparency Gridded Electron Gun Based on a Carbon Nanotube Cold Cathode

Abstract

We here report on the development of an improved dual-gridded electron gun based on a carbon nanotube cold cathode that enhances electron beam transparency and reduces grid interception and loss pathways. Compared with microscale tip Spindts, the dual-gridded construction decreases challenges associated with nanomaterial growth, fabrication, and assembly. Our experimental findings show that this dual-gridded CNT electron gun can support anode output currents (cathode emission current) of up to 700 mA, with a beam-transparency of up to ~100% and a compression ratio of 1/19. A beam spot of uniform brightness is obtained and the radius of the beam spot is 1.5 mm. In addition, our studies show that the device can operate at 1/100 duty cycle continuous pulse with a stable current of around 100mA over 100 h.