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The dynamics of breakup of the compressed state of an electron beam with a virtual cathode (VC) transported in a two-section drift tube of a high-current electron accelerator has been studied. Based on the results of numerical simulations, the method of partial capture of the injected beam current during the applied voltage pulse is proposed and implemented, which can ensure the conditions necessary for the breakup of the electron beam compressed state. The VC velocity during the breakup of the electron beam compressed state amounts to 6–8% of the velocity of light in vacuum. The experimental data qualitatively agree with the results of analytical estimations and numerical simulations.

An electron beam with a virtual cathode (VC) transported in a two-section drift tube of a SINUS-7 high-current electron accelerator has been studied. The dependence of the VC velocity on the injected current has been experimentally determined for the first time. It is established that the VC motion in the drift tube is accompanied by microwave oscillations, which are caused by transient processes involved in the formation of a compressed electron beam.

Accumulation of electrons in course of transportation of tubular high-current electron beam in a coaxial diode with magnetic insulation was studied in the situation of counterstream electron motion occurring due to the formation of a virtual cathode. Accumulation of electrons in these flows is accompanied by gradual increase in their relative energy spread and simultaneous decrease in the maximum kinetic energy. The process is described analytically and confirmed in numerical modeling. The theory is an extension of the known theory of coaxial magnetically insulated diode (based on the conservation of axial component of the generalized momentum) taking into account the spread of electron energies. The numerical modeling employed the KARAT electromagnetic PiC-code. Experiments were performed using high-current electron accelerator SINUS-7 (pulsewidth 50 ns) in the range of diode voltages 350—800 kV, magnetic fields 8—24 kOe, electron beam currents 2—12 kA. A gradual increase of potential of the electron beam between the explosive-emission cathode and the virtual cathode was observed, which accompanies accumulation of circulating electrons as predicted in theory.

This paper studies the motion of a virtual cathode in a two-section drift tube with the formation and breakup of the “compressed” state of an electron beam. Experimental arrangements to intercept part of the injected current during the voltage pulse and to provide virtual cathode motion toward the collector are proposed. The arrangements were implemented on the SINUS-7 high-current electron accelerator. Theoretical and experimental dependences of the virtual cathode velocity on the injected current and cathode voltage are presented. The experimental data on virtual cathode motion agree with its theoretical model based on analytical solutions of equations assisted by computer simulation with the PIC code KARAT. The results of the work demonstrate the feasibility of controlling the virtual cathode motion which can be used in collective ion acceleration and microwave generation.