Theoretical investigation of an electron gun with a point cathode

Electron-optical properties of a gun with a point cathode are determined numerically by tracing a greater number of electron trajectories. In order to calculate the beam current density distribution, an attempt was made to describe the properties of the gun in terms of the parameters describing the inital conditions of the trajectories. Contrary to the conventional electron-optical imaging theory, the electron gun under consideration cannot be sufficiently characterized by a few aberration coefficients, since only a small fraction of the trajectories forming the electron beam would be covered by an expansion containing linear, third and fifth order terms so that the series expansion method is not applicable. (orig.) 891 WBU