Composite and diamond cold cathode materials

Summary form only given. Cold-cathode technology for Crossed-Field Amplifiers (CFAs) has not changed significantly over the last thirty years. The material typically used for cold cathode CFAs is either platinum (Pt) or beryllium (Be), although numerous other materials with higher secondary electron emission ratios have been tested. Beryllium cathodes display higher secondary emission ratios, /spl sim/3.4, than Pt, but require a partial pressure of oxygen to maintain a beryllium oxide (BeO) surface layer. These dispensers limit the life of the CFA, both directly due to oxygen-source filament burnout, and indirectly, by the production of undesirable gases which adversely affect the performance of the CFA. In an attempt to reduce or eliminate the required oxygen dispenser output level, cathodes were constructed from three varieties of Be/BeO composite material (20% BeO, 40% BeO and 60% BeO) and tested in L-4808s, standard forward-wave AEGIS CFAs. Diamond and diamond-like carbons are desirable as cathode materials because of their extremely high secondary electron emission ratio, greater than 20, but their use has previously been prohibitive because of cost, availability, and physical characteristics. Because of recent advances in diamond growth technology it is now possible to deposit thin layers of diamond on a variety of geometric objects. In coordination with Penn State University four annular diamond emitters have been fabricated.