Experimental investigation of pseudospark-produced electron beams

The pseudospark discharge which produces pulsed electron beams of interesting characteristics has been studied. The multigap pseudospark chamber filled with argon gas is operated at voltages up to 50 kV. The electron beams of peak current ~150 A and pulse duration ~20 ns for C_ext = 980 pF at repetitive frequency up to 1 kHz are extracted. A study of the empirical scaling law for the electron beam with various experimental parameters is carried out. The normalized rms emittance of the electron beam, measured by a slit-hole technique, is ~15 mm-mrad, yielding a normalized brightness of B_n ~2 × 10¹⁰ A/m²rad².