Current clamping in a long pulse electron beam-gas interaction

Author

Bosch, R.A. ; Bidwell, S.W. ; Gilgenbach, R.M.

Author_Institution

Dept. of Nucl. Eng., Michigan Univ., Ann Arbor, MI, USA

Volume

16

Issue

4

fYear

1988

fDate

8/1/1988 12:00:00 AM

Firstpage

428

Lastpage

432

Abstract

Current clamping (constant current behavior) was observed in measurements of the current drawn by a metal plate acting as a beam collector for long-pulse (300 ns) electron beam, propagating a short distance through low-pressure gas (40-1000 mtorr). When the clamping occurs, oscillations in the beam collector current are reduced, resulting in a flat current pulse. Good agreement is found with a model which considers the impedance of the plasma produced by the electron beam in parallel with the inductance of the beam-collector current path. The current clamping occurs when the plasma impedance is smaller than the inductive impedance of the beam-collector current path

Keywords

electric impedance; plasma transport processes; plasma-beam interactions; 300 ns; 40 to 1000 mtorr; beam collector; constant current behavior; current clamping; inductive impedance; long pulse electron beam-gas interaction; metal plate; oscillations; plasma impedance; Anodes; Clamps; Copper; Electron beams; Impedance; Inductance; Monitoring; Particle beams; Plasma applications; Voltage;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Plasma Science, IEEE Transactions on

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0093-3813

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/27.3855

Filename

3855