In this paper, an impregnated barium scandate dispenser cathode developed primarily for application in microwave tubes, especially in gyrotrons, is investigated in the following aspects: (1) pulse emission ability and work function distribution; (2) electron initial velocity distribution in pulse operation; (3) the effect of pulse duration ratio; (4) the anomalous Schottky effect under intensive electric field. Some useful results are obtained: the pulse current density is higher than 20 A/cm2 (whenT K =850°C); the anomalous Schottky effect is observed when the field intensity is higher than 104 V/cm; the cathode has flatJ G −fτ characteristic when the pulse duration ratio is in the range of 5×10−3−4×10−2 and an emission current density of 8.8 A/cm2 is drawn. Finally, the experimental results are discussed in relation to papers of the cathode surface analysis published at home and abroad.