Anode plasma effects on relativistic field-emission-limited diodes

Summary form only given, as follows. In a previous work, we investigated a relativistic field emission-limited diode employing a high-transparency mesh anode via a self-consistent approach. However, ionization effects at the anode cannot be eliminated in the real world, even for the high-transparency mesh anode. It is well known that the emergence of upstream ion current would enhance the space-charge limiting current. In the present work, we consider the anode plasma effects on the relativistic field-emission-limiting current The comparisons of emission characteristics between space-charge-limited and field emission-limited diodes will be given. The ion current in Poisson´s equation is treated as a tuning parameter The J-V and E/sub s/-V curves are plotted for variable ion current, where J is the total current density, V is the diode voltage, and E/sub s/ is the electric field on the cathode surface.