HIGH-REPETITION-RATE OPERATION OF A DOUBLE-DISCHARGE ELECTRON-BEAM GENERATOR

We report on the construction and study of a high-repetition-rate doub le-discharge electron beam generator. A synergetic superposition of a pulsed discharge on a continuous one is used to generate an intense el ectron beam (tens of kilo-electron-volts and hundreds of amperes) that might be used as a useful and inexpensive tool for many applications such as laser generation, x-ray generation, photochemistry, material d eposition, and others. To increase the average power the repetition ra te is increased in different discharge configurations. Two types of hi gh-voltage switches are used: an electromechanical switch working up t o 100 Hz and a thyratron-based switch operating up to 10 kHz. A limit of 714 Hz is found for generator operation at 0.1 I/min flow speed and pulse voltage of about 12 kV in air. (C) 1996 Society of Photo-Optica l Instrumentation Engineers.