Extraction of a steady state electron beam from HCD [hollow cathode discharge] plasmas for EBIS [electron beam ion source] applications

Experiments to extract high brightness electron beams from hollow cathode discharge plasmas are now in progress. A unique feature of these plasmas, which in principle can facilitate the extraction of large current low emittance electron beams, is the existence of a relatively high energy electron population with a very narrow energy spread. This electron population was identified in a self-extraction experiment, which yielded a 35 eV, 600 mA electron beam with parallel energy spread of less than 0.5 eV. Preliminary, crude application of 2.5 kV extraction voltage yielded a steady state electron beam current of 1.2 A. The end result of this endeavor would be an Electron Beam Ion Source (EBIS) with an electron beam current of 6 A. 4 refs., 2 figs