THE COULOMB DESINTEGRATION OF THE WEAK EL ECTRON FLOWS AND PHOTOCOUNTS

A mechanism of the current splashes (photocounts) formation in the cir cuit of the photodetector under the influence of the smooth high coher ent wave packet of the laser radiation is discussed. it is shown that these splashes can be due to the Coulomb instability of the electron n ow at its low densities. The instability leads to the electron clots f ormation in the interelectrode space; these clots excite the current s plashes in the detector circuit. It is shown that the clots sharpening happens due to caustics and outrunnings in the now. The results of th e numerical simulation of the electron cloud spreading are given. The formation of the sharp electron density maximums is shown. The propose d mechanism explains the discrete nature of photocounts at the photoca thode excitation by smooth high coherent laser radiation.