Conversion Method of Thermionic Emission Current to Voltage for High-Voltage Sources of Electrons

The stability of the electron thermionic emission current is one of the most important requirements for electron sources used, inter alia, in evaporators, production of rare gas excimers, and electron beam objects for high energy physics. In emission current control systems, a negative feedback sign...

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Main Authors: Dariusz Kuś, Adam Kurnicki, Jarosław Sikora, Janusz Mroczka
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2021-11-01
Series:Electronics
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2079-9292/10/22/2844
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author Dariusz Kuś
Adam Kurnicki
Jarosław Sikora
Janusz Mroczka
author_facet Dariusz Kuś
Adam Kurnicki
Jarosław Sikora
Janusz Mroczka
author_sort Dariusz Kuś
collection DOAJ
description The stability of the electron thermionic emission current is one of the most important requirements for electron sources used, inter alia, in evaporators, production of rare gas excimers, and electron beam objects for high energy physics. In emission current control systems, a negative feedback signal, directly proportional to the emission current is transferred from the high-voltage anode circuit to the low-voltage cathode circuit. This technique, especially for high-voltage sources of electrons, requires the use of galvanic isolation. Alternatively, a method of converting the emission current to voltage in the cathode power supply circuit was proposed. It uses a linear cathode current intensity distribution and multiplicative-additive processing of two voltage signals, directly proportional to the values of cathode current intensity. The simulation results show that a relatively high conversion accuracy can be obtained for low values of the electron work function of the cathode material. The results of experimental tests of the dynamic parameters of the electron source and the steady-state <i>I<sub>e</sub></i>-<i>V</i> characteristic of the converter are presented. The implementation of the proposed <i>I<sub>e</sub></i>-<i>V</i> conversion method facilitates the design of the emission current controller, especially for high-voltage sources of electrons, because a negative feedback loop between the anode and cathode circuits is not required, all controller sub-components are at a common electrostatic potential.
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spelling doaj.art-c56d6310ba7a47a1abe685323c13004b2023-11-22T23:07:56ZengMDPI AGElectronics2079-92922021-11-011022284410.3390/electronics10222844Conversion Method of Thermionic Emission Current to Voltage for High-Voltage Sources of ElectronsDariusz Kuś0Adam Kurnicki1Jarosław Sikora2Janusz Mroczka3Department of Automatics and Metrology, Lublin University of Technology, 20-618 Lublin, PolandDepartment of Automatics and Metrology, Lublin University of Technology, 20-618 Lublin, PolandDepartment of Automatics and Metrology, Lublin University of Technology, 20-618 Lublin, PolandDepartment of Electronic and Photonic Metrology, Wrocław University of Technology, 50-317 Wrocław, PolandThe stability of the electron thermionic emission current is one of the most important requirements for electron sources used, inter alia, in evaporators, production of rare gas excimers, and electron beam objects for high energy physics. In emission current control systems, a negative feedback signal, directly proportional to the emission current is transferred from the high-voltage anode circuit to the low-voltage cathode circuit. This technique, especially for high-voltage sources of electrons, requires the use of galvanic isolation. Alternatively, a method of converting the emission current to voltage in the cathode power supply circuit was proposed. It uses a linear cathode current intensity distribution and multiplicative-additive processing of two voltage signals, directly proportional to the values of cathode current intensity. The simulation results show that a relatively high conversion accuracy can be obtained for low values of the electron work function of the cathode material. The results of experimental tests of the dynamic parameters of the electron source and the steady-state <i>I<sub>e</sub></i>-<i>V</i> characteristic of the converter are presented. The implementation of the proposed <i>I<sub>e</sub></i>-<i>V</i> conversion method facilitates the design of the emission current controller, especially for high-voltage sources of electrons, because a negative feedback loop between the anode and cathode circuits is not required, all controller sub-components are at a common electrostatic potential.https://www.mdpi.com/2079-9292/10/22/2844thermionic electron sourcecathode current intensity distributionsignal processingcathode converterelectron work functionemission current controller
spellingShingle Dariusz Kuś
Adam Kurnicki
Jarosław Sikora
Janusz Mroczka
Conversion Method of Thermionic Emission Current to Voltage for High-Voltage Sources of Electrons
Electronics
thermionic electron source
cathode current intensity distribution
signal processing
cathode converter
electron work function
emission current controller
title Conversion Method of Thermionic Emission Current to Voltage for High-Voltage Sources of Electrons
title_full Conversion Method of Thermionic Emission Current to Voltage for High-Voltage Sources of Electrons
title_fullStr Conversion Method of Thermionic Emission Current to Voltage for High-Voltage Sources of Electrons
title_full_unstemmed Conversion Method of Thermionic Emission Current to Voltage for High-Voltage Sources of Electrons
title_short Conversion Method of Thermionic Emission Current to Voltage for High-Voltage Sources of Electrons
title_sort conversion method of thermionic emission current to voltage for high voltage sources of electrons
topic thermionic electron source
cathode current intensity distribution
signal processing
cathode converter
electron work function
emission current controller
url https://www.mdpi.com/2079-9292/10/22/2844
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