Increasing Stability of Operation of an Electron Source with Plasma Cathode by Means of Beam Deflecting by Using a Leading Magnetic Field

In electron sources, which are a vacuum or plasma-filled diode, the parameters of electron beams are often limited by the electric breakdown of the high-voltage accelerating gap. The paper presents a method of increasing the electric strength of the accelerating gap, based on the location of the electron gun and collector in different planes. With this arrangement of the installation nodes, it is possible to reduce the influence of the vapors of the target material and the fraction of ions from the collector plasma moving in the direction of the emission electrode. The paper presents the design of the deflecting system of the electron beam for the “SOLO” pulsed electron-beam installation and the results of studying the mechanism of electric breakdown of the accelerating gap.