The transient nature of the electron beam dynamics in plasma diodes caused by a weak instantaneous switching of the collector voltage is studied analytically. The solution for a pure electron vacuum diode, found recently [P. V. Akimov et al., J. Appl. Phys. 93, 1246 (2003)], is extended to treat the electron dynamics under the influence of an immobile ion background. In this case new branches of equilibria are obtained from which new perspectives for switching between different states can arise. Moreover, the space-charge limit (SCL) of the electrical current, well known for pure electron diodes, can be overcome by an appropriate choice of the branch and of the ion density. It is emphasized that the line of critical SCL points, obtained by a sweep of the collector voltage, coincides with the line of marginal stability of linear perturbations with respect to equilibria without reflection. For the switching analysis use is made of the Laplace transform technique, and a remarkably simple expression for the Laplace-transformed potential perturbation is found. Exact analytical solutions for the time-dependent response of the diode originating from switching are found.

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