Supershort Avalanche Electron Beams and X-rays in Atmospheric-Pressure Air

• Published in: IEEE transactions on plasma science Vol. 38; no. 4; pp. 741 - 750
• Main Authors: Tarasenko, Victor F, Baksht, Evgenii Kh, Burachenko, Alexander G, Kostyrya, Igor D, Lomaev, Mikhail I, Rybka, Dmitri V
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York IEEE 01.04.2010; The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc. (IEEE)
• Subjects: Amplitudes; Atmospheric pressure; Cathodes; Current density; Density; Diffuse discharge; Diodes; Electron avalanche; Electron beams; electron beams in gases; Electrons; Foils; Gases; Laboratories; Nanostructure; Nonuniform electric fields; Plasma; Pulse generators; Pulse measurements; runaway electrons; Soft x-rays; Voltage; X-rays
• ISSN: 0093-3813; 1939-9375
• DOI: 10.1109/TPS.2009.2037908

The conditions for the generation of runaway electron beams with maximum amplitudes and soft X-rays with maximum exposure doses in a nanosecond discharge in atmospheric-pressure air were determined. A supershort avalanche electron beam (SAEB) with a current of amplitude ~50 A, a current pulse of full-width at half-maximum (FWHM) ~ 100 ps, and a current density up to 20 A/cm 2 was recorded downstream of the gas diode foil. It is shown that the maximum of the SAEB current amplitude shifts in time relative to the voltage pulse rise as a collector is displaced over the foil surface. A source of soft X-rays with an FWHM of less than 200 ps and an exposure doze of ~3 mR per pulse was designed based on a SLEP-150 pulser (maximum voltage amplitude ~140 kV, FWHM ~1 ns, and pulse rise time ~0.3 ns). It is demonstrated that X-ray quanta with an effective energy of ~9 keV make a major contribution to the exposure dose.