Explosive emission cathode plasmas in intense relativistic electron beam diodes

An experimental study of cathode plasmas in planar diodes driven by a Sandia Nereus accelerator (270 kV, 60 kA, 70 ns), with particular attention devoted to plasma uniformity and expansion velocity, has been carried out. This diode current density was varied over a factor of ten and the rate of rise of the applied field dE/dt was varied over a factor of six. Different cathode materials, coatings, and surface roughnesses were used and the effects of glow discharge cleaning and in situ heating of the cathode were examined. Framing photography, electron beam dosimetry, perveance measurements, optical interferometry, and (spatially and temporally resolved) spectroscopy were used to diagnose the plasma uniformity, electron beam uniformity, plasma front motion, electron density, plasma composition, motion of distinct species, electron temperature, and ion (and neutral) densities. Electron beam uniformity is seen to be related to cathode plasma uniformity; this uniformity is enhanced by a high value of (the microscopic) dE/dt, which is determined both by the rise time of the applied field and by the cathode surface roughness. The significance of dE/dt is believed to be related to the screening effect of emitted electrons. The motion of the plasma front is seen to be affected by two phenomena. To begin with, all species of the cathode plasma are seen to expand at the same rate. The ions are believed to be accelerated to velocities on the order of 2 to 3 cm/μs in dense cathode spot regions at the cathode surface. Plasma expansion is also influenced by electric pressure effects, which are determined by the shape of the driving power pulse. A simple cathode plasma model, which explains the similarity of plasmas in diodes with greatly differing parameters, is proposed. The relevance of these results to inductively driven diodes, repetitively pulsed diodes, and magnetically insulated transmission lines is also discussed