Forevacuum Plasma Electron Source for Dielectric Surface Treatment

The paper presents a plasma electron source based on a hollow-cathode glow discharge for generating focused electron beams at forevacuum pressures (1-100 Pa). At an accelerating voltage of 20 kV and discharge current of 1.5 A, the source generates an electron beam of diameter ≈10 mm with a current of 450 mA and maximum power of >9 kW. The hollow cathode geometry of the source provides an electron extraction efficiency of 35 %, which is 10 % higher compared to the previous geometry (25 %). The attained beam parameters and the operation features of the forevacuum source allow its efficient use for high-temperature treatment of dielectric materials.