A plasma electron source for generating beam plasma at low gas pressures

A plasma electron source design for generating beam plasma at low gas pressures is reported. The designed plasma electron source can run stably in the pressure range between 0.1 Pa and 4 Pa. The electron source emission current increases as the working pressure increases. The DC electron beam can reach 11 A at an extraction voltage of 400 V and a gas pressure of 4.0 Pa, which is experimentally verified in this article. This low energy and high current electron beam interacts with gas molecules to generate a beam plasma, which increased the plasma electron source output current. As the working pressure and emission current increased, the beam plasma emission spectrum intensity increased.