Field-enhanced thermionic-emission diode experiment

The analysis and experimental results are presented for a cylindrical field-enhanced thermionic-emission diode. The diode was designed to simulate the cathode electric field, emission-current density, and vacuum environment anticipated for large-area repetitively pulsed guns required for UV and visible laser excitation. Test results indicate that up to 800-A/cm²cathode-emission current density was obtained from 1.1-cm-long, 0.00254-cm-diameter tungsten, with 3- percent Re filaments. The diodes operated stably under standard high-vacuum conditions for the discharge period of a 2-µs RC circuit.