Current Characteristics of a High-Current Electron Gun with Multi-Gap Initiation of Explosive Emission by Dielectric Surface Flashover

Current characteristics of a plasma-filled, high-current electron gun at different accelerating voltages and densities of plasma preliminary filling the space between the cathode and collector have been investigated. Multi-gap initiation of explosive emission is performed with the use of parallel operated, resistively decoupled arc plasma sources which electrodes and tube ceramic isolators are built-in to the explosive-emission cathode. Experiments have demonstrated operability of high-current electron gun with a new cathode assembly at accelerating voltage up to 30 kV and its good emissivity (average in area current density) which was approximately 1.4–2.4 times higher than an emissivity of traditional electron gun with plasma anode and multi-wire copper cathode.