Temporal response of a surface flashover on a velvet cathode in a relativistic diode

Journal Article · Sun Mar 15 00:00:00 EDT 2015 · Physics of Plasmas

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4914851· OSTI ID:22408256

Coleman, J. E.; Moir, D. C.; Crawford, M. T. ^[1]; Welch, D. R.; Offermann, D. T. ^[2]

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1. Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, New Mexico 87545 (United States)
2. Voss Scientific, Albuquerque, New Mexico 87108 (United States)

Surface flashover of a carbon fiber velvet cathode generates a discharge from which electrons are relativistically accelerated to γ ranging from 4.9 to 8.8 through a 17.8 cm diode. This discharge is assumed to be a hydrocarbon mixture. The principal objective of these experiments is to quantify the dynamics over the ∼100 ns pulse of the plasma discharge generated on the surface of the velvet cathode and across the anode-cathode (A-K) gap. A qualitative comparison of calculated and measured results is presented, which includes time resolved measurements with a photomultiplier tube and charge-coupled device images. In addition, initial visible spectroscopy measurements will also be presented confirming the ion species are dominated by hydrogen.

• OSTI ID: 22408256
• Journal Information: Physics of Plasmas, Vol. 22, Issue 3; Other Information: (c) 2015 AIP Publishing LLC; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 1070-664X
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY
ANODES
CARBON FIBERS
CATHODES
CHARGE-COUPLED DEVICES
COMPARATIVE EVALUATIONS
ELECTRONS
EXPERIMENTAL DATA
FLASHOVER
HYDROCARBONS
HYDROGEN
IMAGES
PLASMA
PULSES
RELATIVISTIC RANGE
SPECTROSCOPY
SURFACES
THEORETICAL DATA
TIME RESOLUTION