Electron Beam Action and High Charging of Dust Particles

A theory is developed which describes the processes of dust particle charging in the situation when dust particles are subjected to the action of a beam of electrons. It is shown that in this situation it is necessary to consider the electron field emission in addition to the influence of the electron beam on the dust particle. We calculate the current of the electron field emission modified by the Schottky effect and find the steady-state dust particle charge. We show that in the situation considered the electrostatic energy of the dust particle is much smaller than the electron energy in the beam.