Studies of particle beam overlap and electron deposition in thin foils

This report summarizes a somewhat diverse set of theoretical studies carried out in 1978 which were aimed at increasing our understanding of the physics of multiple-beam overlap and enhanced deposition in thin foils. The studies reported here involve electron and ion beam overlap in single and multiple cylindrical disks of channels, and single and multiple electron-beam deposition in thin foils. Some of the important consequences of these studies which affect ongoing research are the scaling formula derived for overlap current density gain in cylindrical geometry, an understanding of the importance of electron drift motion in thin-foil-enhanced deposition, and the necessity of providing non-axial return current paths and magnetic isolation of disks in multiple-disk configurations