Auxiliary discharge of a wide aperture electron accelerator based on ion-electron emission

Abstract

In this work, the region of the auxiliary discharge of an electron accelerator based on a non-self-sustained high-voltage glow discharge is investigated. The paper presents the analytical approach and the results of test modeling of a glow discharge, which plays the role of an auxiliary discharge for plasma generation with subsequent extraction of ions from it into the main high-voltage gap. In this glow discharge, the anode is two tungsten wires, and the cathode is the inner walls of the chamber. In the model, these regions are considered as separate independent nodes, which are connected by a layer of conducting plasma that matches the boundary conditions. A model based on the representation of an auxiliary glow discharge in the form of matched electron and ion diodes makes it possible to estimate the range of possible voltages for each of the near-electrode layers and to determine the plasma potential.