Time behavior of an electron beam current pulse in the axial and peripheral zones of an anode in vacuum and gas-filled diodes

Abstract

The study of the time behavior of a current pulse of an electron beam generated during a high-voltage nanosecond discharge in gas-filled and vacuum diodes has been carried out. As follows from the experimental results, in both cases, the distribution of the beam current density in the plane of a grounded anode is non-uniform. The highest beam current density is recorded in the axial part of the anode. It was established that in the case of a gas-filled diode, ~ 2 ns after the onset of the beam current pulse, its shape in the axial anode zone changes relative to that in the peripheral one. It is assumed that the most probable reason for this is the effect of compensation of the charge of the beam electrons by the positive charge of ions arising in the ionization process in the paraxial zone.