Open AccessPrecision electron flow measurements in a disk transmission line.
Author(s) -
J. P. Martin,
M. E. Savage,
T.D. Pointon,
M. Gilmore
Publication year - 2008
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Reports
DOI - 10.2172/932880
Subject(s) - electron , physics , cathode , electric field , mechanics , magnetic field , flow (mathematics) , computational physics , inductance , line (geometry) , particle in cell , transmission line , atomic physics , voltage , electrical engineering , mathematics , engineering , geometry , quantum mechanics
An analytic model for electron flow in a system driving a fixed inductive load is described and evaluated with particle in cell simulations. The simple model allows determining the impedance profile for a magnetically insulated transmission line given the minimum gap desired, and the lumped inductance inside the transition to the minimum gap. The model allows specifying the relative electron flow along the power flow direction, including cases where the fractional electron flow decreases in the power flow direction. The electrons are able to return to the cathode because they gain energy from the temporally rising magnetic field. The simulations were done with small cell size to reduce numerical heating. An experiment to compare electron flow to the simulations was done. The measured electron flow is {approx}33% of the value from the simulations. The discrepancy is assumed to be due to a reversed electric field at the cathode because of the inductive load and falling electron drift velocity in the power flow direction. The simulations constrain the cathode electric field to zero, which gives the highest possible electron flow