Electron and ion beam generation from a pseudospark

Abstract

Summary form only given. Because of its unusual and interesting discharge properties, the pseudospark (ps) has attracted significant attention from diverse fields such as material processing, pulsed-power switching, electron beam generation, free electron masers, ion beam generation, extreme-ultraviolet radiation sources, microthrusters, and pseudospark-triggered wakefield accelerators, etc. A pseudospark discharge has indeed shown to be a promising source of high brightness, high intensity electron beam pulses. During a pseudospark discharge, a low temperature plasma is formed which acts as a copious source of electrons and ions and can be regarded as a low work function surface that facilitates electron and ion extraction. This paper will present some measurements and results of ps discharge experiments, ps-sourced electron and ion beam experiments. Pulsed electron beams with current intensity over 108 A m-2, high brightness up to 10 12 A m-2 rad-2 and emittance of tens of mm mrad were produced from a multi-gap ps discharge. The electron beam was applied in a Cherenkov maser interaction. The transportation of the ps electron beams is also investigated in order to produce high peak current, high quality, short (~100 picosecond) or long duration (2~100 ns) high-brightness electron beam pulses. Recent results from a high current density ps-produced ion beam experimentally investigated with hydrogen gas will be presented