Generators of high-power nanosecond electron beams

Review of some of the special features of operation of electron-beam generators with electron energies ranging from 0.1 to 10 MeV, currents ranging from 10 kA to 1 MA, and pulse durations ranging from 10 to 100 nsec. Following a brief review of the main components of an electron-beam generator, the experimental literature on the explosive emission of electrons from pointed metal cathodes is reviewed, showing that the emission in the initial stages of vacuum breakdown is not strictly field emission, but is related to the interaction between the dense plasma formed during explosion of the pointed emitter and the surface of the solid body. A study is then made of the patterns of current flow in diodes with different types of cathodes under conditions of explosive emission of electrons. The use of pulse generators with single and double storage lines to obtain the voltage pulses required for acceleration of electrons in beam generators is discussed, as well as the use of spark dischargers as the switching elements in such generators.