Numerical simulation and design of a thermionic electron gun

Abstract

This paper reports the simulation of an electron gun. The effects on the beam quality of some parameters on the beam quality were studied and optimal choices were identified. It gives numerical beam qualities for a common electrostatic triode gun, and the dependencies on design parameters such as electrode geometries and bias voltages to these electrodes are shown. An electron beam of diameter 5 mm with energy of 5 keV was assumed for the simulation process. Some design parameters were identified as variable parameters in the presence of space charge. These parameters are the inclination angle of emission electrode, the applied voltage to the focusing electrode, the gap width between the emission electrode and the focusing electrode and the diameter of the focusing electrode. The triode extraction system is designed and optimized by using CST software (for Particle Beam Simulations). The physical design of the extraction system is given in this paper. From the simulation results, it is concluded that the inclination angle of the emission electrode is optimized at 22.5°, the applied voltage to the focusing electrode was optimized and found to be Vfoc = −600 V, the optimal separation distance (gap between emission electrode and focusing electrode) is 4 mm, and the optimal diameter of the emission electrode is 14 mm. Initial results for these efforts aimed at emittance improvement are also given.