Generation of beam plasma in metal cavity at forevacuum pressures: experiment and simulations
We describe the experiments and numerical simulation results on the generation of beam plasma by electron beam injection into the metal cavity, at a residual gas (air) pressure of 2-13 Pa. Electron beam was formed by fore-vacuum plasma electron source. Experimental results show that the dense (10 9 cm -3) e-beam produced plasma with relatively low electron temperature (< 1 eV) could be generated inside the grounded metal cavity. The dependence of plasma parameters on gas pressure and electron beam current is studied. Based on the numerical model, including the balance equations, we proposed the explanation of these dependencies.