Investigation of the characteristics of the explosive-emission cathode based on carbon fiber in pulsed-periodic electron beam generation

Explosive electron emission cathodes provide a high current density without auxiliary systems and, therefore, have long been the subject of research for high-power pulsed accelerators. The paper summarizes the results of studies on the operation of an explosive-emission cathode based on carbon fiber in operating modes with a pulse repetition rate of 5-15 pps, at a voltage rise rate of asymptotic to 2.5 x 10(12) V/s. The change in current and voltage as a function of the number of pulses and the diode impedance in the pulsed-periodic mode with a voltage pulse duration of 200 ns at full width half maximum (FWHM) are studied. During testing, the total diode current reduced by 25%. The change in the characteristics of the cathode at different pulse repetition rates is given up to 3.2 x 10(5 )pulses. Changes in characteristics are correlated with changes in the microstructure of the cathode surface, presented in the enlarged images of the cathode surface.