Hollow-Cathode Magnetron Discharge as a Generator of Charged Particles

Abstract

A magnetron discharge with a cold hollow cathode and an uncooled rod cathode is studied. It is shown that such a discharge can be efficiently used to generate a plasma emitting charged particles. For a discharge current of 2 A and an accelerating voltage of 10 kV, ion and electron emission currents of 0.1–0.15 and 1 A, respectively, are achieved. The energy cost of ion extraction is 1–2 W/mA, which is two to five times less than for typical ion sources, and the energy efficiency is 15 mA/W, which is a factor of five or six higher than for electron emitters based on a hollow-cathode reflex discharge.