Triode electron injection systems for hollow beams

Novel electron guns, in which a conical hollow electron beam is projected at a large angle to the axis into a coaxial deflection region, were tested. The guns have a triode structure so that the perveance can be varied easily. The strong deflection increases the effective perveance of the beam and makes the trajectories insensitive to current variations. In the form of a device with the gun at a large radius and projecting the beam inward, the electron paths are sensitive to scattering in the gun. The inverted gun, projecting the beam outward, is relatively free from this difficulty. The systems generally behave as expected, and should be quite useful for initiating variable-current hollow electron beams in various available focusing arrangements.