Noise transport in the crossed-field diode

The present work treats the transport of noise, originating at a thermionic cathode, across a planar crossed-field diode. A multivelocity Monte Carlo analysis is used to simulate thermionic emission by using random numbers to generate electron emission times and velocities. Trajectories for many charges are followed through the diode space by means of a high-speed digital computer. Measurements performed on a planar triode model for the crossed-field diode show that the anode noise current increases rapidly near the critical magnetic field, at which the stream just grazes the anode. The theory agrees well with these experimental findings. The Monte Carlo study predicts the increase of both the normal anode velocity fluctuations and the spread of the velocity distribution with magnetic field. This is caused mainly by the "geometrical" spreading of the initial velocity distribution. The crossed-field potential minimum exhibits no instabilities in the planar model. The noise current smoothing at low frequencies in ordinary streams is predicted for moderate fields but disappears near the critical field.