An investigation of the properties of the plasma and the electron beam produced by velvet cathodes in a diode powered by a 200kV, 300ns pulse is presented. Spectroscopic measurements demonstrated that the source of the electrons is surface plasma with electron density and temperature of 4×1014cm3 and 7eV, respectively, for an electron current density of 50Acm2. At the beginning of the accelerating pulse, the plasma expands at a velocity of 106cms towards the anode for a few millimeters, where its stoppage occurs. It was shown by optical and x-ray diagnostics that in spite of the individual character and nonuniform cross-sectional distribution of the cathode plasma sources, the uniformity of the extracted electron beam is satisfactory. A mechanism controlling the electron current-density cross-sectional uniformity is suggested. This mechanism is based on a fast radial plasma expansion towards the center due to a magnetic-field radial gradient. Finally, it was shown that the interaction of the electron beam with the stainless-steel anode does not lead to the formation of an anode plasma.

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