The effect of the conductivity of drift chamber walls on the dynamics of a relativistic electron beam with a virtual cathode

Abstract

The effect of conductivity of walls of a drift chamber of the axial vircator on the behavior of a relativistic electron beam with a supercritical current was investigated. The dynamics of a relativistic electron beam is shown to be characterized by the formation of a virtual cathode of complex structure with two or three potential minima in the azimuthal direction, which rotate around the drift space axis. It is established that variation in the conductivity of drift chamber walls leads to stepwise switching of the generation frequency and a sharp change in the output power. Dependences of the output radiation power of the investigated vircator system on the conductivity of drift chamber walls for two characteristic regimes of the dynamics of a relativistic electron beam were obtained.