An electron beam-heater with a broad-area plasma cathode

An electron-beam heater with a broad-area plasma cathode was designed for thermal treatment of large surfaces in vacuum. Using the plasma electron source of broad cross-section beams instead of a hot-cathode gun generating thin scanning beams allows simultaneous heating all the surface as well as lengthening the service life and raising the reliability of the heater. A broad-area emitting plasma surface is produced in a special electrode cavity by injection into it, through a small hole, of charged particles from a reflex discharge with cold electrodes. Such a principle of design of the plasma cathode allows to obtain an electron beam of the required current density in the pressure range of 10-2 to 1 Pa. The heater can be operated with He, Ar, air and other gases. Using a multiaperture accelerating system comprising emitting and accelerating electrodes, an electron beam up to 150 mm in diameter with an energy up to 15 keV, a current up to 0.5 A, and a nonuniformity of the cross-sectional distribution of the current density not more than +- 6% on the area of 100 cm2 could be generated. The efficiency of the heater at the accelerating voltage of 11 to 13 kV equals to about 90%. (author)