Resistive-wall instability experiment in space-charge dominated electron beams

Abstract

The resistive-wall instability of charged particle beams has been experimentally studied in space-charge dominated electron beams. The beam energy is in the range of 3 to 8.5 keV, the beam current is between 25 mA and 62 mA. In the experiment, electron beams produced from a thermionic cathode are passed through a 0.96 m long glass tube coated with a resistive material, and localized space-charge waves are launched in the beams. The first preliminary experiment clearly shows the growth of slow space-charge waves and the decay of fast space-charge waves. More systematic measurements and analysis of the growth(decay) rate are in progress.