Development of a slow mono-kinetic electron source

A comparative study of already existing slow mono-kinetic electron guns shows that those using a 127 degrees electrostatic selector can be improved still further to arrive at the performances obtained with spherical 180 degrees selectors for example. For this reason we have examined the 127 degrees selector theoretically in more detail; it appears that it should be possible to obtain a resolving power better than 30 mV for a current of about 10-10 A, on condition that certain improvements be made to the instrument as normally designed, in particular concerning the entrance and exit slides. As a result, the usual suppressors for the scattered electrons are no longer necessary. The development of this apparatus has been carried out with particular care: the dimensional characteristics are fixed to an accuracy of a few microns, although the instrument can be baked out at 300 C. The experimental results are in excellent agreement with the theoretical predictions: for a current of 10-10 A, the measured resolving power is 24 ± 4 mV. The easy detection of the He- resonance line at 19.3 eV has confirmed the advantages of this apparatus for the study of atomic collisions. (author)