Experimental study of miniature hollow cathode plasma electron gun

Based on the hollow cathode effect and low-pressure glow discharge empirical formulas，the preliminary design of a miniature hollow cathode plasma electron gun is presented. This kind of gun has a major advantage in that it has no material cathode, can drive current densities larger than thermionic counterparts, can have long lifetime and can operate reliable at fore vacuum gas pressure ranges such as achieved by mechanical pumps. The relationships of beam current, discharge voltage and gas pressure have been experimentally investigated. A electron beam of current 600 mA, pulse width 2 μs is obtained under pressure 2 Pa, discharge voltage 10 kV.