NUMERICAL INVESTIGATIONS OF HOT CATHODE IONIZATION GAUGES

Analytical or numerical methods for the investigation of hot cathode i onization gauges were described and discussed only rarely in the liter ature. This is due to various difficulties in the theoretical calculat ion of gauge sensitivity and other important properties. The rapid dev elopment of computer hardware gives the opportunity to apply numerical methods in the investigation of hot cathode ionization gauges. With t he three-dimensional numerical calculation program IONTRA3d it was pos sible to calculate the sensitivity and other important characteristics of hot cathode ionization gauges. The results of numerical calculatio ns were compared with experimental data. The differences were discusse d. By means of IONTRA3d it was possible to obtain results that can be achieved by experimental investigations only with large effort. These are the analysis of the distribution of electron current on the anode segments and the influence of anode support. The typical form of C-U-c -Plots (with 2 maximas) was explained. (C) 1998 Published by Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.