Dynamics of cathode spot has become a major part of vacuum arc discharge with its high academic interest and wide application potential. In this article, using a three-dimensional statistical model, we simulate the distribution of the ignition probability of a new cathode spot occurring in different magnetic pressure on old cathode spot surface and at different arcing time. This model for the i...

Presented are preliminary measurements of near-cathode ion velocity distributions using time-resolved laser induced fluorescence. Two experiments were performed. First, time-averaged velocity distributions were measured in a LaB6 hollow cathode plume under the influence of a Hall thruster magnetic field provided by the 6-kW H6 thruster. The discharge was sustained without a downstream anode but...

Most recently, stimuli-responsive luminescent materials have attracted increasing interest because they can exhibit tunable emissive properties which are sensitive to external physical stimuli, such as light, temperature, force, and electric field. Among these stimuli, electric field is an important external stimulus. However, examples of electrochromic luminescent materials that exhibit emissi...

Electric propulsion devices for space applications greatly reduce the propellant mass requirements on a spacecraft in comparison to chemical rockets. To date, gridded ion engines and Hall effect thrusters (HETs) rely on thermionic hollow cathodes to supply electrons for propellant ionization and ion beam neutralization. Hollow cathodes consume up to 10% of the total propellant used in low-power...

The design and operation of a cascade matrix electron flow amplifier based on an concentrator multiplier is considered. Unlike classical microchannel plates, the proposed can provide high density output current, which also allows it to be used as field cathode in vacuum microelectronics giga terahertz ranges. Keywords: Microchannel plate, secondary emission, screening, multiplier, cathode.

FEbeam is an all-in-one field emission data processing interface with the capability to analyze cathode performance in rf injector by extracting enhancement factor, local field, and effective area from Fowler–Nordheim equations. It also has of beam imaging micrographs using its sister software, FEpic. The current version was designed for Argonne Cathode Test-stand Wakefield Accelerator facility...

A new thermionic cathode has been developed and installed for use on the PEGASUS plane wave transformer injector. The novel design of the LaB6 cathode allows for thermionic emission as well as photoinjector operation. Both test-stand measurements and in situ operational experience are reported.

A new 18x18 cm(2) active area lanthanum hexaboride (LaB(6)) plasma source for use in a dc discharge has been developed at UCLA. The cathode consists of four tiled LaB(6) pieces indirectly heated to electron emission (1750 degrees C) by a graphite heater. A molybdenum mesh anode 33 cm in front of the LaB(6) accelerates the electrons, ionizing a fill gas to create a 20x20 cm(2) nearly square plas...