Cathode design for a low-velocity metastable neon cold cathode discharge source

We present new measurements on the characteristics of a cold cathode, low v elocity metastable neon discharge atomic beam source. We have measured both the relative metastable flux and the most probable velocity as a function of the discharge current for four different cathode designs. The results de monstrate that there is a strong dependence of the flux on the design of th e cathode, while there is little difference in the velocity of the atomic b eams produced.