Electrical Characterization of Plasma-Assisted Electron Beam Source With Sub-mm Sheet Aperture

In this article, the electrical characterization of a plasma-assisted electron beam source with a sub-mm sheet aperture has been performed. The developed sheet electron beam source comprises a hollow cathode cavity, two floating anodes, and one ground potential anode with a sheet aperture of
$1.5\times0.3$
mm. The source has been characterized under varying applied gap potential range, i.e., 10–30 kV in self-breakdown operating mode. The breakdown parameters and resultant beam parameters, such as
${V} - {I}$
characteristics, electron beam current density, duration to reach the conductive phase, and the energy transformation efficiency of the developed source, have been analyzed. The successive breakdown phenomenon has also been presented in the profile of the developed electron beam source.