Comparison of CsI coated carbon velvet and aluminum cathodes operated at current density on the order of 300 A/cm²

Many high power microwave devices use explosive or flashover electron emission cathodes in order to generate the electron beam and thus drive the device. These diodes are simple to operate, requiring no heater or other external systems, and are capable of generating beam currents of several kA at accelerating voltages on the order of 100s of kV. However, they generally suffer from non-uniform emission, anode heating, out-gassing, and pulse shortening due to anode and cathode plasma expansion. The ability to rep-rate such a diode is generally limited by anode heating and out-gassing which are both affected by beam uniformity. Two diodes are compared in this work. One uses a machined aluminum cathode, which is made from solid aluminum with grooves milled onto the surface. The other diode utilizes a carbon velvet cathode which is CVD coated with CsI. Time integrated scintillator images of the electron beam at the anode were taken for both the carbon velvet and aluminum cathodes. Additionally, time resolved images of the emission centers were taken for the carbon velvet cathodes. Data sets of over 1000 shots were taken with each cathode and shot to shot variation in the peak turn-on electric field are compared. The lifetime of the aluminum cathode was exceeded before 1000 shots, whereas the carbon velvet cathode showed no degradation in operation.