Improvement in rod-pinch diode performance with anode heating

We have studied the performance of rod-pinch diodes with heated anodes. Anode heating is seen to virtually eliminate the proton component of the ion beam, leading to an increase in radiation efficiency. With heated anodes the beam pinches slightly closer to the rod tip which leads to a reduction in spot size when tapered anodes are used. An expected reduction in the rate of impedance collapse is not observed. Heating is easy to implement, and the observed improvements in diode performance merit further study of this approach.