Characteristics of high power ion diode with real cathode

To obtain a high current-density ion beam of ~10 kA/cm
²
on the anode, we are developing a new type of applied-B
_r
diode with real cathode. For this purpose, some pilot experiments are performed. To evaluate the effect of prepulse, self-magnetically insulated plasma-focus diode (PFD) with short gap (d = 5 mm) is used. The diode is short circuited in every shot with prepulse, which is in operational with relatively high impedance by eliminating pre-pulse. Molecules produced in a shot of PFD are evaluated and large quantity of ~ 1 × 10
²¹
of H
₂
are found to be released from the anode. Characteristics of conventional B
_r
diode is investigated and highly bright ion beam is produced with good reproducebility. A strong magnetic field coil strengthened by Kevlar filament has been developed for the new type of B
_r
diode, maximum field of 35 T, B
_r
field of 5 T becomes possible to obtain without destruction.