On the energy distribution of a spiraling electron beam
Spiraling electron beam energy conversion and distribution using retarding-field velocity analyzer
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Spiraling electron beam energy conversion and distribution using retarding-field velocity analyzer
Calculation of electron gun for producing helical electron beams with prescribed high transverse over longitudinal electron energy ratio
Injections of nonrelativistic electron beams from a finite equipotential conductor into an ionospheric plasma have been simulated using a two-dimensional electrostatic particle code. The purpose of the study is to survey the simulation parameters for understanding the dependence of beam radius on physical variables. The conductor is charged to a high potential when the background plasma density is less than the beam density. Beam electrons attracted by the charged conductor are decelerated to zero velocity near the stagnation point, which is at a few Debye lengths from the conductor. The simulations suggest that the beam electrons at the stagnation point receive a large transverse kick and the beam expands radially thereafter. The buildup of beam electrons at the stagnation point produces a large electrostatic force responsible for the transverse kick. However, for the weak charging cases where the background plasma density is larger than the beam density, the radial expansion mechanism is different; the beam plasma instability is found to be responsible for the radial expansion. The simulations show that the electron beam radius for high spacecraft charging cases is of the order of the beam gyroradius, defined as the beam velocity divided by the gyrofrequency. In the weak charging cases, the beam radius is only a fraction of the beam gyroradius. The parameter survey indicates that the beam radius increases with beam density and decreases with magnetic field and beam velocity. The beam radius normalized by the beam gyroradius is found to scale according to the ratio of the beam electron Debye length to the ambient electron Debye length. The parameter dependence deduced would be useful for interpreting the beam radius and beam density of electron beam injection experiments conducted from rockets and the space shuttle.
A 2-D electrostatic particle code was used to study the beam radial expansion of a nonrelativistic electron beam injected from an isolated equipotential conductor into a background plasma. The simulations indicate that the beam radius is generally proportional to the beam electron gyroradius when the conductor is charged to a large potential. The simulations also suggest that the charge buildup at the beam stagnation point causes the beam radial expansion. From a survey of the simulation results, it is found that the ratio of the beam radius to the beam electron gyroradius increases with the square root of beam density and decreases inversely with beam injection velocity. This dependence is explained in terms of the ratio of the beam electron Debye length to the ambient electron Debye length. These results are most applicable to the SEPAC electron beam injection experiments from Spacelab 1, where high charging potential was observed.
An ignition of beam plasma discharge (BPD) in space was observed in a neutral gas-electron beam interaction experiment by Space Shuttle/Spacelab-1 in 1983. An electron beam of 8 kV 100 mA was injected into a high dense nitrogen gas cloud of 10 to the 23rd molecules which was released during 100 msec from the Orbiter. The appearance of the beam and its surroundings observed by a low-light-level TV camera showed a local ignition of the beam plasma discharge in the gas cloud. The enhanced plasma production, generation of auroral emission, and associated wave emission were also detected by onboard diagnostic instruments.
Electron beams with an applied magnetic field generate a secondary cold plasma with a selective chemical composition, featuring low-energy ions and metastable species in the discharge periphery, ideal for low-damage plasma treatment of material substrates. In this work, we studied the plasma generated by an e-beam using a 4 kV voltage in a pure argon gas environment under a magnetic field of 150 G and in the pressure range of 25–90 mTorr. We measured the absolute spatial density profile of argon (1 s 5 ) metastables in an electron beam generated plasma by laser-induced fluorescence and found it to be of the order of 10 16 m −3 . The electron temperature and the electron density measured by a Langmuir probe were of the order of 10 16 m −3 and less than an eV respectively. Electron-impact quenching was identified as a significant loss mechanism for the Ar(1s 5 ) state, leading to the saturation of the metastable density at higher pressures. Outside the primary ionization region, the spatial distribution of argon metastables followed a linear diffusion profile, indicating negligible additional production in those regions.
Electron beam welding uses high intensity beams that are generated by an electron emitting cathode under high vacuum conditions. The cathode, typically a ribbon or wire filament of refractory metal, must be heated to sufficiently high temperatures for electron emission to occur and must be carefully controlled to produce the desired beam current while at the same time optimizing filament lifetime. Traditional methods for doing this in commonly used triode gun assemblies consist of first finding the filament knee point in the filament current versus beam current relationship that produces the desired beam current for a given beam voltage. The filament current is then increased by some amount, typically 5–10%, per conventional wisdom to produce a peaked beam. This investigation studies and quantifies the beam and weld quality produced by underkneed and overpeaked filaments using electron beam diagnostics to measure the power density distribution of these beams. Underkneed filaments are shown to have power densities that drop off very quickly below the traditional knee, resulting in poor weld penetration. Kneed filaments do not reach the full beam intensity and also produce shallow welds. Increasing the filament current 10% above the traditional knee was shown to produce a circular Gaussian-like beam with peaked intensity optimized for welding and for filament lifetime. Further increases in the filament current that produce overpeaked beams do not significantly change the beam or weld quality and would only contribute to a reduced filament lifetime.
Abstract Intense upward electron beams were measured by the Juno JADE instrument in the northern hemisphere, low‐latitude auroral zone source region. In this study we report on how these electron beams interact with plasma near and within the Jovian hectometric (HOM) emission (1 MHz 5 MHz) source region. Within the source region large upward loss cones are observed in the northern polar region at radial distances of 2Rj, magnetic latitude of . Intense, narrow electron beams ( 3 keV) are then observed, but within one second wave‐particle scattering is observed, filling the loss cone to energies 50 keV. These energies persist for several seconds before fading, leaving an empty loss cone again. The loss cone provides a free‐energy source for HOM emission resulting from the cyclotron maser instability. We use quasilinear analysis to examine the generation of HOM and the dynamics of wave‐particle interaction of the electron beams with HOM, and the generation via Landau interaction of whistler mode emission. The dynamic spectrum of the HOM emission generated by the loss‐cone electrons as well as that of the low‐frequency whistler‐mode waves generated by the up‐going electron beam can be constructed by quasilinear theory, which compare well with observation. The saturated state of the energetic electron velocity distribution function constructed via quasilinear theory also compare reasonably with observation.
An astigmatic electron beam with an ellipticity ratio of approximately 2:1 was examined using the Enhanced Modified Faraday Cup (EMFC) diagnostic to measure its properties and show how the power density distribution varies near the beam waist. Results show that the beam has two power density peaks, one on either side of the beam crossover point, resulting from different focal distances of the major and minor axes of the elliptical beam shape. Quantification of the beam properties was used to establish a depth-of-field where the beam diameter and peak power densities are relatively constant. For the 1 kW beam studied here, the depth-of-field measured approximately ±5 mm from the beam crossover point, illustrating how electron beam diagnostics can be used to identify process control limits for repeatable and reliable welds under non-ideal electron beam power density distribution conditions.
A new instrument for electron beam characterization has been developed, based on measuring the range of beam electrons in different thicknesses of aluminum, to determine both the current and energy of an electron beam traveling in open air. This instrument is referred to as a ‘plate spectrometer’ as the thickness of the spectrometer is adjusted by adding or removing aluminum plates. This spectrometer was assembled and then characterized at the Idaho Accelerator Center (IAC) with three different beam energies and with one beam energy at the University of Maryland Radiation Facilities. The plate spectrometer was able to match the median energies and provide a reasonable constraint to the beam distributions seen in the IAC magnetic spectrometer. Finally, in a separate experiment, the plate spectrometer was also seen to agree with a dosimetry characterization of the beam at the University of Maryland Radiation Facilities and improved upon the uncertainties of this measurement.
A gyrating electron beam supports negative energy modes near the harmonics of electron-cyclotron frequency. An electromagnetic wave passing through such a beam parametrically up-converts into high-frequency electromagnetic modes separated from the pump frequency by the electron-cyclotron harmonics. The growth rate for this process varies directly as the oscillatory velocity of beam electrons caused by the pump and as square root of the beam density. It has a maximum at values of scattering angle close to 180 deg and is also implicitly dependent on the beam veocity and the cyclotron frequency of electrons. The effect of a cold electron component is to reduce the growth rate.
Observations of a 100-mA, 1-keV electron beam were made with a low light level TV system and other instruments aboard the space shuttle STS 3 in March 1982. When fired at a moderate pitch angle with respect to the magnetic field, the beam electrons initially moved outward along a classical helical trajectory. Within a short distance, however, the beam electrons were deflected away from the helical trajectory into paths parallel to magnetic field lines threading the primary helix. This resulted in the formation of a thin-walled, cylindrical electron beam structure having a radius equal to the primary beam gyroradius. This structure, which is consistent with earlier laboratory vacuum chamber observations and recent two-dimensional computer electrostatic plasma simulations, has important implications for determining the extent to which pulsed electron beams can radiate electromagnetic energy in the ionosphere.
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The space charge electric field of a finite length electron beam in the free electron laser amplifier with a tapered wiggler is analyzed. In the free drift region between the accelerator and laser, expressions for the increase of energy spread due to the self field are presented. In the FEL interaction region, the general conditions on the importance of the self electric field in the equations of motion is obtained. A numerical example of the FEL experiment at 10.6 microns is given.
Electron-beam-pumped semiconductor ultra-violet optical sources (ESUVOSs) are disclosed that use ballistic electron pumped wide bandgap semiconductor materials. The sources may produce incoherent radiation and take the form of electron-beam-pumped light emitting triodes (ELETs). The sources may produce coherent radiation and take the form of electron-beam-pumped laser triodes (ELTs). The ELTs may take the form of electron-beam-pumped vertical cavity surface emitting lasers (EVCSEL) or edge emitting electron-beam-pumped lasers (EEELs). The semiconductor medium may take the form of an aluminum gallium nitride alloy that has a mole fraction of aluminum selected to give a desired emission wavelength, diamond, or diamond-like carbon (DLC). The sources may be produced from discrete components that are assembled after their individual formation or they may be produced using batch MEMS-type or semiconductor-type processing techniques to build them up in a whole or partial monolithic manner, or combination thereof.
The electron beam assisted chemical vapor deposition (EBCVD) of silicon nitride films using NH3, N2, and SiH4 as the reactant gases is reported. The films have been deposited on aluminum, SiO2, and polysilicon film substrates as well as on crystalline silicon substrates. The range of experimental conditions under which silicon nitrides have been deposited includes substrate temperatures from 50 to 400 C, electron beam currents of 2-40 mA, electron beam energies of 1-5 keV, total ambient pressures of 0.1-0.4 Torr, and NH3/SiH4 mass flow ratios of 1-80. The physical, electrical, and chemical properties of the EBCVD films are discussed.
The electron beam freeform fabrication (EBF3) layer-additive manufacturing process has been developed to directly fabricate complex geometry components. EBF3 introduces metal wire into a molten pool created on the surface of a substrate by a focused electron beam. Part geometry is achieved by translating the substrate with respect to the beam to build the part one layer at a time. Tensile properties demonstrated for electron beam deposited aluminum and titanium alloys are comparable to wrought products, although the microstructures of the deposits exhibit cast features. Understanding the metallurgical mechanisms controlling mechanical properties is essential to maximizing application of the EBF3 process. Tensile mechanical properties and microstructures were examined for aluminum alloy 2219 fabricated over a range of EBF3 process variables. Unique microstructures were observed within the deposited layers and at interlayer boundaries, which varied within the deposit height due to microstructural evolution associated with the complex thermal history experienced during subsequent layer deposition. Microstructures exhibited irregularly shaped grains with interior dendritic structures, described based on overall grain size, morphology, distribution, and dendrite spacing, and were correlated with deposition parameters. Fracture features were compared with microstructural elements to define fracture paths and aid in definition of basic processing-microstructure-property correlations.
An electron beam microwave device having an evacuated interaction chamber to which are coupled a resonant cavity which has an opening between the resonant cavity and the evacuated interaction chamber and an electron gun which causes a narrow beam of electrons to traverse the evacuated interaction chamber. The device also contains a mechanism for feeding back a microwave electromagnetic field from the resonant cavity to the evacuated interaction chamber in such a way as to modulate the direction of propagation of the electron beam, thereby further amplifyjng the microwave electromagnetic field. Furthermore, provision is made for coupling the electromagnetic field out of the electron beam microwave device.